


Pull Me Down Hard

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Series: Every Color Illuminates (Spectrum Adjacent) [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5 Things, 5+1 Things, M/M, Slow Burn, Teasing, five things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-08 14:40:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10389069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: Five times Shiro unintentionally teased Matt, and one time it was on purpose.Or: "A study of the effects of Takashi Shirogane on a body in space" by Holt, Matthew, PhDUpdates every Tuesday





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What the hell timeline is this in? I dunno. Spectrum and S2 had a baby and this fic is the result.

Hours.  They’d been at this for  _ hours, _ and they’d barely made a dent.

Matt could theoretically respect the need to have stock of the contents of the Castle.  After all, every time something went wrong, they had to scramble for a replacement part, since the pieces of a ten thousand year old piece of technology built by a nearly extinct race didn’t exactly grow on trees.

Unless you were the Olkari, anyway.  Hmm...

Regardless, fine, going through the castle to try and find spare replacements in the tons and tons of storage made a lot of sense.  It also made sense to do it the day after a mid-level mission, when the paladins were still all tired but no one was actually hurt.  They didn’t know how many opportunities they’d have to do something like this, so they had to spend the whole day at it if they could, with breaks for food and sanity.

Fine, okay, sure.  A good idea.

In practice?  Matt was going to  _ die _ of dust inhalation, and that was only going to be a relief.

Matt frowned up at a shelf just over his comfortable reaching range.  They had a variety of step stools and ladders, but the one he’d need was currently under Lance, and he hated to use the taller ones when he didn’t have to.  They felt so shaky.  Matt didn’t feel like falling off a stool onto a shelf, and making the whole thing crash down on his head. 

So he did the next best thing.  Or, rather, he did the thing he wanted to do, but needed the justification for.

_ “Shirooo!” _

Glancing over, Pidge shot him a flat look, still arm deep in a box.  “Did you find something that deaged you over there?  I haven’t heard you sound like that since you were  _ ten.” _

Matt scowled back.  “So, how you still sound?”

This answer was a raised middle finger.

“Do you need help with something?” Shiro interrupted, stepping over before sibling bickering could fully break out.  Unfortunately.  That would at least be interesting.

Matt reached up for the box, making grabbing motions with his hands.  “Alteans make their shelves too tall.  Help?”

“Get it yourself,” Keith muttered, eying him.  “Why do you need Shiro for that?”

Matt huffed.  “I’m small and the box is up high. Do the math.  And Shiro’s got an advantage with heavy things, so this is just proper distribution of labor.”

“Is that an option?” Lance called, struggling to slide his own box off the shelf without spilling it everywhere.  

Shiro eyed him.  “Call it upper body exercises.  If you really need help, let me know.”  Lance groaned dramatically, but went back to work.  Then Shiro glanced down at Matt.  “Seriously?”

“You could have done it and dropped it in the time it took for this whole exchange to happen,” Matt pointed out.  “And yeah, seriously.  Just until the step stool opens up, alright?”

For a moment, Shiro continued to eye him.  Matt did his best to look properly exhausted, which wasn’t difficult.  He wasn’t one for heavy lifting, and the storage room had heated up from the bright lights and people working.  So, yeah, Matt was a mess already.  His shirt was sticking to him in gross places and his hair was everywhere.  Appearing pathetic?  Not hard.

And of course Shiro didn’t.  Bastard.  The only sign that he was bothered by the heat was that he’d opted for a looser shirt today.  Unfortunately not as form fitting, but he’d actually rolled it up to the elbows.  

Finally, Shiro sighed and reached up, taking hold of the box.  Matt stepped back to give him room, grinning like a loon, only for the smile to fall right off his face.  This shirt was shorter than the other, and it didn’t tuck in.  So when Shiro reached up, it moved with the motion, showing just a strip of scarred, warm-looking skin.

Okay, the forearms had been nice, but this was different.  Now Matt could see the dip at the bottom of Shiro’s spine, and with his tight pants he could see the curve of his ass.  He could imagine it without the dark fabric in the way, see the scars that must still lead down-

Oh god.

Heaving the box up with a grunt, Shiro took a step back, then bent over to safely drop it to the floor.  Standing back up, he shot Matt a flat look.  “There.  Think you can handle it, or do you need me to hold your hand through that too?”

‘Yes, please’ was probably not the correct answer to that question.

When Matt didn’t reply, Shiro frowned and looked him over.  “You okay?  Don’t pass out on us.”

“I’m fine,” Matt replied, and he managed not to sound like he was being strangled.  “I’m just thirsty.”

Somewhere behind him, he heard Hunk cover a snicker with a cough.

Traitor.

Shiro glanced over Matt’s shoulder, frowning at Hunk in confusion, then clapped Matt on the shoulder.  “Go ahead and grab a drink before you keel over.”

Would if he could.  But Matt just gave an intentionally sloppy salute, just to watch Shiro’s eye twitch, then wandered off to find one of the water packets.  At least it gave him an excuse to look away.

When he turned back around, Shiro had moved on, now helping Lance with his own box.  Which meant that strip again, and wasn’t it just the perfect size for Matt to slip his fingers through and touch?

Dammit.  This had been easier on the way to Kerberos.  For one, the flight suits weren’t exactly inspiring (thought Matt still had a nostalgic fantasy or two about them), and for another he’d been so focused on their actual reason for being there that it had been easier to ignore Shiro.

Or, well, maybe a year and change of being a prisoner had just made him more desperate.  After all, it had been over two years since he got laid outside of his own hand.

God, that was sad.

Dragging his box closer to Pidge, Matt sat down on his knees and popped it open.  Inside were flat disks in a shiny, heavy looking material.  He picked one up and held it to the light, frowning.  “Huh.  Chalk this one up to ‘ask Coran’.”

“Take a number,” Pidge muttered, pulling on her shirt to circulate air.  There were dark patches under her arms, and Matt was willing to bet there was another, larger one on her back.  One day they’d meet a deodorant that could match his sister, but that day was not today.  “I think we’ve identified barely a third of this stuff.”

“At least we can usually tell the tech stuff from the other stuff,” Hunk offered, tapping his box with a pen.  “Everything else we can take our time on.  Though it’d be nice to find more entertainment.”

“We haven’t gone through everything we’ve found,” Keith pointed out.  “Or that we brought, even. Hell, we still don’t know the rules to that game we found in the officer’s lounge.”

Matt paused, perking.  “What game?”

Shrugging, Hunk tilted his box to number it, then moved it to sit with the already sorted ones.  “We think it’s kind of like hearts?  It’s definitely a card game, just not with patterns we recognize or rules we know.”

“Actually, that’d be a good project this afternoon when we’re done,” Lance added.  “We’re not gunna do this till dinner, right?  Because I will sweat into nothingness.”

Shiro snorted.  “Not if you drink enough water.”

“Even then!”

Groaning, Pidge sat down, leaning against Matt’s back.  He grunted at her sudden weight and bucked, but it didn’t dislodge her so he gave up.  “I’m with Lance.  It’s starting to smell in here.”

“It always smelled in here, now it’s just sweat instead of dust.”  But Keith stretched until he groaned, then slumped.  “They’ve got a point, Shiro.”

“Alright, a break, at least,” Shiro finally allowed.  “A bit longer, it’s barely past lunch time.”  But he went and retrieved a water packet of his own, then wandered over to sit down.  Glancing into Matt’s box, he froze, brows raising.  “Huh.  You know what these look like?”

Flipping it over in his hands, Matt considered.  “Very badly shaped, very colorful hockey pucks?”

“Records.  Vinyl records.”  Shiro picked one up and ran his fingers over it.  “I wonder if these are some sort of data storage?  It doesn’t have to be music, but same idea.”

Matt grinned at him.  “You snob.  Of course that’s what you think.”  But he considered it again.  “It’s a little big for storage, unless it’s for something huge.  Or unless someone stocked the castle with technology that was hundreds of years old by  _ our  _ standards.  But we’ll see.  Hell, maybe we just found frisbees.”  He considered, tapping it on the floor. When it seemed durable, Matt leaned past Shiro, rocking Pidge with the movement.  “Hey, Lance, go long!”

Head jumping up, Lance paused, then bent his knees, waiting.  Matt launched the disc, which barely got close enough for Lance to snatch out of the air.  “More like go short, dude.”

“It was an experiment, they don’t always go as planned,” Matt replied.  “They work, at least.  Have we found any sports equipment before?”

“I don’t think so,” Hunk replied.  “Or, if we have, we didn’t notice.  Huh.”

“Don’t we get enough physical exercise?” Pidge asked, dropped her head back to lean on Matt’s shoulder.

Keith finally sat down as well, while Lance dropped the disc back into the box and went to get a drink of his own.  “Or we could do that for training, like the time with the paintball.”

“Ooh, do paintball again.  That was fun.  I liked being an NPC.”

Shiro rolled his eyes.  “You fought me tooth and nail.”

That only made Matt shrug.  “You still haven’t paid me.”

Shiro didn’t dignify that with an answer.  Instead he ran a hand through his hair, then made a face.  Taking the top of his shirt, he pulled it over his head and scrubbed like it was a towel.

First point: Eww.

Second point: Abs.  Shiro’s shirt was up and Matt could see abs.  Lots of them.  Very clearly, even among the scars.  And skin.  The hem of the shirt shook with Shiro’s movements, and each time it peaked it threatened to flash nipples and oh god, oh  _ god. _

Matt was aware his mouth had fallen open, but he couldn’t help it.  When he finally dragged his eyes away, he saw Lance smirking like he was about to make a comment.

Oh god, abort, distraction, quickly.  Before someone said something and Shiro put it together and would want to  _ talk _ about  _ feelings _ and he’d let Matt down in the nicest way ever and it would be pure torture.  No way in hell.

So Matt did literally the first thing that came to mind.

He smacked Shiro on the stomach like he was a drum.

Which wasn’t the worst comparison either.  That was some taut skin there.

It was also  _ incredibly stupid, _ because he’d not only touched Shiro when he was unaware, but in a startling way.

Luckily, Shiro didn’t automatically try and kick Matt away, or any of the other hundreds of things he could have done on pure instinct.  Instead he yelped and bent double, hiding his stomach with his bent legs.  Yanking down his shirt, Shiro gave Matt a wide-eyed, baffled look.

“Sorry!  It was big brother instinct, I couldn’t help it.”  Matt bit his bottom lip, wincing.  “You okay?  I didn’t startle you too bad?”

Shiro blinked, then shook his head.  “No, I’m alright.  It was just weird.  Probably not a good idea but- seriously, I’m fine.”

Looking him over, because Shiro would  _ definitely _ lie about it, Matt finally nodded.  “Alright.  Still sorry.”

“Apology- well.”  Shiro narrowed his eyes, head tilted.  “Hey, Pidge?”

“Hm?”

“Evasive maneuvers.”

Letting out a bark of laughter, Pidge suddenly rolled off of Matt’s back, tucking so her feet were under her.  “Rodger!”

Then Shiro launched himself forward, wrapping his Galra arm around Matt’s shoulders.  Then he started to dig his knuckles into Matt’s scalp.  “Big brother instincts my  _ ass.” _

“Hey!”  Matt kicked his feet wildly, trying to squirm free, but he was laughing too hard to manage.  “Fine, Gaston, I just wanted to see if it’d make a noise like a drum.  It didn’t.  You’re slacking off.”

Pidge snickered.  “Says the guy with noodle arms.”  Before Matt could protest - which, okay, he did have those, and it was unfair that Pidge  _ wasn’t _ just as noodly as him anymore - she climbed onto Shiro’s back and yanked at him.  “Alright, this isn’t a fair fight.  Let him go.”

“Yeah, lemme go, Shiro,” Matt chirped.  “This isn’t very Paladin-like.”  He continued to flail, hard enough that he just missed kicking a box and dumping it all into Keith’s lap.  “Oh, whoops, sorry!”

Eyeing him, Keith blandly picked up the box and placed it on Matt’s legs, pinning them.

“Rude!” Matt burst out, gaping at him.  “I’m already at a disadvantage, and- agh!” Shiro started to noogie again, deftly ignoring Pidge’s attempts to yank him.  “Help, help, I’m being repressed!”

Hunk snorted.  “Is this the violence inherent in the system?”

Beaming, Matt struggled to look around Shiro’s arms at Hunk.  “This is why you’re my favorite.”

That made Pidge pause.  “Why is Hunk your favorite?”

“Because, Katie-bear, you’re already Shiro’s favorite.  Doubling up isn’t fair.”

Shiro finally dropped Matt, scowling.  “I don’t have favorites.”

Snorting, Lance rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, you do.”  He sniffled dramatically and wavered.  “Oh, Pidge.  _ Pidge. _  You’re so small, I’m so worried, do you need a jacket?”

To Matt’s astonishment, Shiro went bright red.  “That doesn’t count.”

“It kinda counts,” Hunk replied, even as Pidge scowled at whatever they were talking about.  “You were pretty drunk, but you weren’t  _ that _ out of it.”

Matt’s mouth fell open in delight.  “You were drunk?  When was this?  Was this the time with the food?”

“No, it was some kind of tea.  It was an accident again, though.”  As if that needed clarifying.  No way in hell was Shiro going to get drunk on purpose during his command.  Please.  “And I thought she was cold, that doesn’t mean anything.”

Lance snickered.  “After about five minutes on how tiny her wrists are.”

Expression flat, Pidge crossed her arms.  “Suddenly I don’t think I can carry any more boxes.  Guess we’re done for the day.”

Holding up a hand, Matt poked Shiro in the chest.  “Wait a second.  You got drunk, and you spent the whole time talking about how fragile Katie is?  And you’re still  _ alive?” _

“I didn’t say fragile!  I would never.  Just that she was small, and it worried me sometimes.  It does!  And I did the same thing to Keith, with his jacket.  It doesn’t mean I play favorites.”

Lance’s snickers picked up volume, and Shiro’s ears went pink, suddenly realizing he was just digging himself deeper.

This was  _ amazing. _

“Is there video footage somewhere?” Matt asked, grinning wider at Shiro’s look of panic.

Keith huffed.  “There better not be.”

Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Hunk grinned.  “Aww, don’t you want to hear again how proud Shiro is of you?”

_ “No.” _

Shiro stood suddenly, dislodging Pidge in the process and clapping his hands.  “Okay, I think we’ve earned a break for the day,” he declared, voice suddenly all command again, as if that would dissuade any of him.  “Go ahead and get cleaned up and we can work on something else for the rest of the afternoon.  I’m sure you have your own projects.”

Popping to his feet, Lance stretched comfortably.  “Awesome!  Good to know if we ever need out of training, we should just tell Matt about Shiro’s youthful indiscretions.  Like the time we fought off intruders while he was just in a towel.”

Shiro’s head toward Lance with deliberate slowness, and while Matt couldn’t see it, his expression made Lance freeze.  

“Stop.”

“Yes’sir,” Lance replied immediately.  “Shower.  Cleaning up.  Don’t make me run laps forever, please.”

“I’ll consider it.”

With a last cheeky grin, Lance scampered out, Hunk following quickly after.  Keith was nice enough to help drag the box back off of Matt’s legs.  When he passed, he clapped Shiro on the shoulder and murmured something to him, but didn’t stay for a response.

Rather than leave right away, Pidge eyed Matt.  “You’re both ridiculous.”

“I try.  He doesn’t, but we get there anyway.”

Sighing, Pidge followed after the others, pushing her hair out of her face as she went.

Which just left Matt and Shiro.

Normally that wasn’t a problem, but Matt was still a little keyed up, and honestly he could use one of those showers for more personal use.  He might have to sneak into one of the guest rooms with an en suite just to avoid the communal showers.

“You okay?” Matt asked carefully, taking in the tension in Shiro’s shoulders.

He started and turned around, eyes wide.  “What?  Oh, yeah, just embarrassed. I didn’t need that dragged out.”

Matt snickered, climbing to his feet as well.  “Fair enough.  I’m definitely not letting it go.  Remind me to get you deliberately wasted and talking about Keith and Katie.  That sounds like a great time.”

“I hope never to be tipsy around you again, if only to avoid more bad dancing.”  He laughed at Matt’s gasp of fake offense.  “So, I still haven’t played that would-be card game at all.  Figuring it out sounds like a decent way to spend the afternoon, then we can team up and kick the team’s ass.  You in?”

“Always,” Matt replied, beaming up at him.  “But showers first.”

Shiro laughed. “Oh, definitely.”  He pulled up the collar of his shirt again, this time using it to dab at his forehead and temple.

Abs again.  Glorious, glorious abs.

Yeah, shower was definitely on the agenda.  Before Matt did something impulsive like try and stroke them.

“Give me an hour?” Matt replied.  “I’m gunna lay down a bit too.  All that getting you to lift boxes tired me out.”

Dropping his shirt, Shiro snorted.  “Yeah, whining takes a lot out of you.”  Matt made a noise of protest that was certainly not a whine and didn’t prove Shiro’s point for him.  “An hour’s good.  I’ll see you then.”  With a last clap to Matt’s shoulder, Shiro smiled and then made his way out.

As soon as the door closed, he let out a long groan.  “Get it together, Holt.”

Yeah, right.  If he hadn’t managed in the past nearly two years, it wasn’t happening now.

A shower was more realistic.  Matt would do that instead.


	2. Chapter 2

This was not his pillow.  This was way too hard and cold and flat against his face to be a pillow.  Also, Matt was wearing his glasses, and he nearly never forgot those when he was sleeping in his bed.

Blearily, Matt pushed himself up.  He was at a desk in one of the labs, two screens floating in front of him.  One was a compiling of the code he was working on with Pidge to make future bots harder to reprogram without a passcode, and to make the castle have to identify and register them.

The other was that stupid card game program.  After three hours with it, he and Shiro had been no closer to figuring out any kind of rhyme or reason.  Two of the brightest of their generation, hand picked for a historic mission to Kerberos, and a stupid game evaded them.  So Matt had cracked it open to see how it ticked.

It hadn’t helped.

At some point, the hours had dragged on, and he and Pidge had both gotten excited about their project, ignoring Matt’s set timer for when it was time to close up and head to bed.  Instead they’d chased a few thoughts, had a couple of breakthroughs, then put in the code to compile so they could test it.

Matt must have fallen asleep.  And glancing over at the other chair, he saw Pidge curled up against the desk, propped up on her arms.

Well, at least it wasn’t just him.

Yawning, Matt tried to get enough brain juice going to move, close everything down, wake his sister and head to bed.  Before he managed, the door to the lab opened.

It was Shiro, and at the sight of them he sighed.  “I saw light,” he explained softly.  “Really, Matt?”

“We had a breakthrough,” he replied, the words stretching out and pitching around a yawn.  “Forgot.  Sorry.”

Shiro shook his head, but it was mostly fond.  He switched off monitors with practiced ease, no doubt shutting off the screens without affecting the running code.  He knew better.  Then he gently shook Pidge’s shoulder.  “Hey.  C’mon, sleepy head.”

Grumbling, Pidge raised a hand to swat at him.  “Go ‘way.”

That made Shiro crack a grin, and it was so soft and fond that Matt’s chest ached to see it.  Or maybe that was just from the easy way Shiro was around his little sister, unbothered by her grumbled protests.  

Eventually he gave up on trying to get her to wake up properly, and instead Shiro heaved her up into his arms with a grunt.  Pidge clung to him, letting out another slurred denial, but she settled with her head against his shoulder with practiced ease.  After a moment, she looped an arm up to wrap around Shiro’s neck, then started to breathe deeply again.

“You okay to walk?” Shiro asked softly, smiling at Matt like they were sharing a private joke.  “I might be able to carry both of you, but I can’t promise it’ll be comfortable.”

There were several contexts that Matt wanted to be in Shiro’s arms, but exactly zero of them involved Pidge, awake or asleep.  So he nodded and yawned again, hard enough that his jaw cracked, then stumbled to his feet.  He started for the door but nearly lost his footing, and Shiro moved over and leaned in to support him.

God, it wasn’t fair.  Bad enough Shiro looked like that.  Matt had learned to deal with that, back when he thought Shiro was an ass.  But he also had to be nice about it, and good with his sister.  

“Who gave you the right?” Matt muttered to Shiro, too tired to stop himself.  Not that he tried too hard at that when he was awake, either.

At first, Shiro frowned at him, confused, but then he rolled his eyes.  “To boss you around?  I have it all the time, but you lose the right to ignore me when you try and pull a stupid all-nighter.”

“Wasn’t stupid,” Matt replied sulkily.  “It’s Rover 2.0.  Which, I’m with Lance, should be Fido.”

Shiro paused for barely a moment, and his eyes went distant.  “Oh.  Well, you’ll suffer enough later.  I don’t need to scold, then.”  He shifted his grip, holding onto Pidge a little more tightly.

Protective but soft.  It was a fine line, but Shiro seemed to navigate it naturally.  Hell, he seemed to be confused when other people didn’t quite manage.

Bastard.

Matt loved it about him.

Dammit, he wasn’t supposed to think like that.  Damn sleep brain.

Following Shiro on bleary autopilot, he stood by as Pidge was dropped onto on her bed.  It took a few minutes to untangle her from Shiro, since she’d latched on like a sleepy limpet.  Eventually, he got her on the bed with her shoes and glasses off, which Shiro seemed to regard as ‘good enough’, since he let her be.  

“I’ll walk you to your room,” Shiro told Matt, hand resting on his shoulder.  “I’m a little afraid you’ll lean against a wall and fall asleep there.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be this quiet.”

Matt grumbled at him, but it was halfhearted at best.  “Bite me.  But yeah, escort me to my room, sure, fine.  It’ll be like having a bodyguard.”

“Exactly like that,” Shrio replied, but there was an edge of laughter to his voice.  He was teasing, but Matt was too tired to follow it.  “C’mon, let’s go.”

“I don’t get carried now, too?” Matt protested, as Shiro used the hand on his shoulder to get him moving.  “Not fair, this is favoritism.  Katie really is the favorite.  How could you have fallen so far?”

Shiro eyed him, considering.  “You know what?  You’re right, this’ll be easier.”  Then he hooked his arms under Matt’s legs and heaved him up into his arms.

Woah.  Warm.  No wonder Pidge had practically collapsed against him.  Matt kind of wanted to use Shiro as a space heater.

Or a bed heater.

Ugh, brain,  _ shut up.  _

Matt clung tightly as Shiro walked them down the hall, not looking at all bothered by the additional weight.  Which, alright, he didn’t weigh that much more than Pidge, so fair enough.  And it was kind of nice, in a soft, warm way.  There was a sway to being carried, very much like a rocking chair, and Shiro’s grip was secure.

He was starting to doze off when a thought finally hit.  “Shiro?”

“Mm?”

“Why are you awake?”

Shiro went very quiet, though he didn’t break his stride.  “The usual reason.”

Yawning, Matt frowned.  “That could mean nightmares or that you haven’t slept at all.”

“I slept,” Shiro replied softly.  “I just didn’t stay that way.  So I went on a walk.  And the lights were on, and I found a pair of stray Holts.”

Grumbling, Matt poked him in the chest.  “I can tell you’re deflecting.”

There was a pause, then Shiro chuckled.  “Yeah, you can.”  He stopped at Matt’s door and tapped in the code.  “Alright, down, go to sleep.”

“You too,” Matt replied.  “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Shiro offered a thin smile.  “You’re half asleep.”

That only made Matt snort.  “So?  That’s not an answer.”

After a moment of hesitation, Shiro sighed.  “It wasn’t a memory.  Just a normal nightmare.  I was in the Black Lion and the castle blew.”

Shit.

“Yeah, doesn’t sound like a memory.  I think I’d remember that.”  Matt tried and failed to stifle another yawn.  “Feel better now that you got to fuss?”

Shiro smiled.  “Actually, yes.  Seriously, down.  Bed.”  He dropped Matt onto the bed, where he bounced slightly.  “And you get to undress yourself.”

“Mmm, that’s the name of my sex tape.”  That made Shiro freeze, then he let out a snicker.  Matt smiled up at him.  “There you are.  Hey.  We’re okay.  We’re not gunna leave you alone.  You’d be so screwed, it’s not even funny.  You’d starve immediately.”

Rolling his eyes, Shiro plucked off Matt’s glasses and set them aside.  “I don’t think the universe cares about that.”

Matt pouted.  “I care.  And the universe will bend to my will, Shirogane, mark my words.”

“Stop acting like a super villain and go to bed,” Shiro told him, a flat, teasing order.  “Before I have to take you out before you become a problem.”

Snickering, Matt nuzzled into the pillow and kicked off his shoes.  “Not until I have my robot army and it’s a fair fight.”

Shiro sighed.  “Alright, if you insist.  Good night, Matt.”  He smiled through Matt’s mumbled reply.  “And thanks.”

“Mm.  No problem.”  Matt glanced at him, then realized that Shiro was bent over Matt’s bed, giving that soft, nearly melting smile he so rarely wore.

Shit.  Why couldn’t this have happened when he was awake when he could enjoy it?

Before he could do more than take a mental picture for later, Shiro straightened up.  “Sleep well,” he called as he turned off the light.

“You too,” Matt wished, sincere as he could manage.

Shiros smile was sad but warm as the door closed.

Well, Matt would deal with it in the morning.

For now, he was ready for dreams of his own.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I forgot to update Tuesday.
> 
> My bad. Here it is, and we'll back to Tuesday updates next week. Sorry!

“Katie!  Where are my damn glasses?”  Matt burst into the lab, wishing not for the first time that he could kick open the door like he wanted to.  “You already stole one pair, you damn gremlin.  Where are you?”

“I think I found them.”

Pausing at the voice that was definitely not Pidge, Matt paused and finally glanced over.  Shiro was sitting in a chair pulled over to Pidge’s usual workstation, his arm activated as he tapped on a motherboard, for some goddamn reason.

He was also wearing Matt’s glasses.

Oh, Matt had either been very good or very bad today to deserve this.

“Why do you have my glasses?” He asked carefully.  “I need those.”

Shiro’s brows rose.  “Well, need is a strong word,” he pointed out fondly.

Sticking out his tongue, Matt wheeled over his chair and turned it around, so he could lean against the back and Shiro.  “That doesn’t explain why you have them.”

“Pidge gave them to me.  Apparently my squinting was giving her a headache to watch.”  Shiro shrugged and went back to tapping, and now Matt could see that he was using his pointer finger to spot weld.

Oh, hey.  That wasn’t a bad idea.

Watching with open interest, Matt hummed.  “And you didn’t think it was weird that she had an extra set?”

“Honestly?  No.  It’s not like they’re prescription, so I figured she manufactured a couple extra pairs just in case.”

That did sound like Pidge, actually.  Matt let out a little grumble, unable to pick apart Shiro’s logic.  “I need them.”

“You can have them back in five minutes,” Shiro replied.  “I’m about done.”

They weren’t exactly Shiro’s to give or keep, but Matt only groaned, mostly for show.  Whatever Shiro was up to, it was probably more important than going through the card game’s code.  It was just  _ bugging _ Matt to leave that mystery unsolved.

Besides, Matt was totally content to watch.  The glasses looked good on him, framing his eyes and giving that probably unfair feeling of intelligence.  Not that needing a prescription actually said something about anyone’s actual level of ability.  After all, Matt had known his fair share of dumbasses with glasses, and he himself didn’t actually need them to see.

Plus, Matt just liked Shiro doing stuff that matched how smart he was.  Piloting was such a  _ jock _ position, in terms of what the Garrison offered, and most of Shiro’s training was physical.  When it came to an intellectual puzzle, Shiro tended to bow out and let Pidge and Hunk tackle it.  Which, okay, yeah, they were a pair of irritatingly creative geniuses with near unlimited resources, if alien ones.  But still.

If that hadn’t done it for Matt - and it very much did - then the sheer concentration and determination would have.  That little line down the middle of his forehead was freakin’ cute as shit, and his nose crinkled slightly.  Once in awhile, Matt would see a little hint of tongue trying to poke out.

That might have been his favorite part.

“Square frames, if you make more,” Matt mused softly, head tilted.

Shiro blinked, then glanced up.  “What?”

He tapped the side of his head, where the arm of his glasses would normally sit.  “For you.  If you want your own pair.  Square frames.  It’ll suit you better.”

Frowning, Shiro straightened up.  “I’m not wearing these for the aesthetic, you know.”

“But you could be,” Matt pointed out.  “It’d be like a Superman disguises.  Put on a pair of thick glasses and suddenly you’re Takashi Shirogane, rather than Shiro the Black Paladin.  Good luck finding you now, Galra bastards.”

Shiro stared, then rolled his eyes.  “You’re ridiculous,” he replied.  “And I don’t see why I need my own pair.  I can just steal yours if I need them again.”

Pouting, Matt whined.  “No, they’re mine.  Get your own.”

Waggling his brows in challenge, Shiro grinned.  “Take ‘em.”

Before Matt could do the stupid thing and give it a shot, the door opened and Pidge returned, flanked by Hunk and Lance.  They paused at the sight of them, and Katie’s smirk grew.

“Gremlin!” Matt called, scowling.  “Don’t give away my shit to weirdos.”

Next to him, Shiro choked, and when Matt glanced over he’d covered his mouth, trying and failing to hide his smile.

It was always devastating, but the glasses did  _ not _ help Matt’s situation.

“I didn’t know you needed glasses, Shiro,” Hunk commented.  “You’re the same prescription as Matt and Pidge?”

For a moment, Shiro stared at Hunk like he’d grown a second head, and it was Matt’s turn to try and hide a smile.  “I don’t,” he replied slowly, openly confused.  “Need them, I mean.”

Lance snorted and set down a plate of what looked like cookies.  When Matt made a gleeful noise and reached (Hunk’s stress baking was a source of delicious wonder and it was part of why he was Matt’s favorite), he yanked them away, and snickered at the resulting scowl.  “You sure about that?  ‘Cause your face begs to differ.”

“Oh.  No.  They’re not prescription,” Shiro replied, still sounding a little distant.  “Did you two really go all this time not knowing that? Pidge doesn’t wear them in the helmet.”

Brow furrowed, Hunk frowned.  “They’re not?  I figured the glass just changed to suit different visions.  Why do you wear them, then?”

“Magnification,” Pidge told them, shrugging.  “Very mild, but useful for detail work or reading.”

Lance stared at her, then at Shiro.  Darting forward, he yanked them off, ignoring Shiro’s protests.  He jammed them on and stared.  “I feel like I’ve been enlightened.”

“Be enlightened with Katie’s pair,” Matt grumbled.  He took them back, then considered.  Sighing, he leaned over the table and slipped them into Shiro’s face, gentle as he tucked the arms behind his ears.

Really, he had no one to blame but himself for how his heart was pounding.  

“You probably need them more right now.  I’m just gunna look at screens,” Matt admitted.

“Give me a minute and I’ll help,” Shiro replied, smiling softly.  He tilted his head just slightly, a playful gesture, and it made Matt’s glasses shift and slip to the bottom of his nose.  Frowning, Shiro crossed his eyes to look at it.

Cute.   _ Unfairly _ cute.  Illegal.  Matt was calling the space cops.

Clearing her throat, Pidge shot Matt a sly look, unbothered by his answering scowl.  “Thanks for your help, Shiro.”

“No problem,” he replied easily, flashing her a grin.  “I like getting to use my hand for this.  Nicer than its usual purpose.”

Leaning forward, Hunk watched him work with interest.  “Actually, that’s a really good way of getting into hard-to-maneuver places.  Maybe we could get you to hold something metal to heat for the smaller bits; that way you don’t have to use your pinky like that.”

That made Shiro pause.  “Just because I don’t mind it doesn’t mean I’m going to be your personal welding machine all the time.”

Hunk whined playfully.  “Why not?”

“There are only two pairs of glasses,” Shiro shot back, the corners of his eyes crinkling.  “And a very limited time frame when they’re not both in use.”

“Excuses,” Lance replied. “Sounds like Shiro’s slacking off to me.”

Pulling his hand back, Shiro rolled his eyes.  “Yes, we all know how much time I spend lazing about.”

Lance snickered.  “Exactly.  Now, whatever, explain this project of yours to me again, you two.  This time while I’m actually listening.”

“Lance!” Pidge huffed, but tugged over what Shiro had been welding and launched into a fast-paced lecture about modifications and testing.

Matt started to listen in, curious, but then Shiro put a hand on his shoulder.  “Do you want any help for that project of yours?”

Frankly, Shiro in those glasses was only going to screw up Matt’s concentration.  But he shrugged and nodded anyway.  “Yeah, an extra pair of eyes is always useful.  And you just know the basics coding.  At this point, I think a good working knowledge is actually a problem rather than a help, since I’m too used to certain conventions and I’m confusing myself with it.”

“You want someone dumber?” Shiro translated flatly.  

“Exactly!”

Shiro huffed in mock annoyance, but he leaned over the back of Matt’s chair as he pulled up the screens rather than get his own.  It meant his arms pressed against Matt’s back, and Matt could feel the heat of him when he bent over to see the screen.

Okay, deep breaths.  He’d survived Galra imprisonment, Matt was not going to have a heart attack because his cute friend was practically resting his chin on Matt’s shoulder or because he was wearing glasses.  He was stronger than this.

Except Shiro tilted his head like a curious puppy as Matt explained, and he was not strong.  Matt was weak.  Matt was so damn weak.

Together, they combed through the code, Matt running him through what he’d already found and the structure of the program, with Shiro asking the occasional question.

It would actually have been easier if they had been dumb questions.  Instead, Matt had to be reminded of just how smart Shiro was. 

“You’re right that this is confusing,” Shiro muttered.  “Is it possible to make a couple of copies just to restructure everything?  It’ll be a pain, but at least it’ll be in a pattern you can work with.  Plus, when you’re deconstructing, then it it’ll probably stand out better.  A new perspective.”

It wasn’t a bad idea.  A tedious one, maybe, but not bad.

“Alright, yeah,” Matt replied, brow furrowed.  Already, his mind was jumping ahead to where he’d flagged certain pieces of the code.  He’d move those to the top where he could access them more easily and so they’d be in the  _ right _ place, damn Altean programming. 

As he lost himself in the thoughts, he nearly tuned out the loud  _ bang _ from the other side of the room.  But Shiro didn’t, and he jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Looking over, Shiro frowned.  “Is anything on fire?”

There was a suspicious pause.  “Define fire,” Hunk called, stepping over and grabbing the Altean version of a fire extinguisher.  “Do there need to be actual flames?”

Groaning, Shiro patted Matt’s shoulder.  “You good?  Sorry I was useless.”

“No, go save the day with your workplace safety ethic, Space Cowboy.  I’ll get on putting this in a useful order.  And you weren’t useless, so there.”

Shiro shot him another grin and wandered off, and Matt got back to work.

It wasn’t until later that Matt realized Shiro had left with his glasses.  “Ah, hell.”

***

Matt found Shiro in his room later.  He was sitting on the bed, legs bent, with his pad resting on them, looking cosy as he read.

He was still wearing the glasses.

“There’s my thief,” Matt drawled, stepping in.  Shiro arched his brows in silent question.  “My glasses thief.”

Shiro froze, like he’d forgotten he was wearing them.  Which was fair.  They covered the entire field of vision, so there was less jumping back and forth between normal and zoomed in, and thus fewer headaches later.  Matt was so used to wearing them that it was only weird when he wasn’t.

Tapping on one of the arms, Shiro shot him a sly look.  “You got through today just fine without them, seems like it’s not a big deal.”

“Shiro,” Matt whined, drawing his name out.  He collapsed by the foot of the bed, leaning against the storage unit at the end.  “You’re being very rude to me.”

“My apologies,” Shiro drawled back, lips quirked up.  “However can I make it up to you?”  But then he sobered.  “Do you actually need them back now, or are you here to tease?  Because I honestly just forgot I had them until your dad pointed it out during our session, and I didn’t see you after.  You can take them now, if you need them.”

Matt shoved at Shiro’s legs.  “Stop being nice and sincere.  You’re ruining this moment.”

That made Shiro grin, soft and warm.  “So sorry.  I’ll try to be more of a jackass in the future.”

“Damn right.”  Matt watched him for a moment, just enjoying his ease.  “What’cha doin’?”

Picking up the pad, Shiro waggled it.  “Working on my Altean.  It’s a short story.  Or, at least, it’s supposed to be.  It’s taking a very long time for something with so few pages.”

Matt hummed in interest.  “You’re just getting literate, or are you trying to learn to speak it as well?”

“Mostly reading.  I don’t have very many opportunities to practice speaking it. Coran and Allura encourage us to, but, well.  It’s hard on them.  I’d rather get good at it and surprise them, but it’s slow-going on that front, too.”  

Matt nodded.  He knew what Shiro meant.  At first, he’d been fascinated by the differences: a world that created aliens that were so similar to humans.  Was Altea equally similar to Earth?  But Matt had quickly learned to keep his questions to himself and stick to the reading.  Allura and Coran were eager to talk about their home, but the resulting quiet after was always uncomfortable.  

So it was a nice goal, and Matt rarely had an opportunity to hear the language itself.  When Allura or Coran spoke, it was natural for them, so Matt didn’t hear it at all with the translators active.  The only times he actually registered it was when he or one of the other humans tried to read some out.

“Well, there’s an answer to that,” Matt replied easily, nudging Shiro’s legs again.  “Read it out loud to me.  That way, you can justify stealing my glasses, too.”

Shiro’s eyes went wide.  “Oh.  That’s not a bad idea.  You don’t have anything better to do?”

Shaking his head, Matt settled in.  “Nope.  Coran’s busy supervising Katie and Hunk so they don’t set any more fires, so I can’t ask him anything.  Honestly, I need translations and help too often to bother to try without him.  So I’m free for the afternoon.  Therefore, you should entertain me, Scheherazade.”

“So long as you don’t kill me when I stop,” Shiro replied dryly, but he tapped on the pad.  “Alright, I’ll start back at the beginning.”  He started to read, the words awkward in his mouth and brow furrowed in concentration.  Matt found himself fascinated by the way Shiro’s eyes darted behind the framing of the glasses, how his lips moved around the unfamiliar syllables, how his tongue occasionally darted out to wet his lips.

This short story better be actually short, otherwise Matt was going to need to find an excuse to disappear.

So to make himself stop staring before Shiro noticed, Matt closed his eyes.  The sound of Shiro’s voice was soft and calming, almost gentle.  Without any ability to follow the plot or understand what Shiro was saying, Matt’s concentration started to slip, and he remembered that he’d gotten less sleep after the Rover breakthrough.

He’d just relax for a moment.  A minute at most.  Then he’d go back to watching.

It was warm in Shiro’s room, probably from the extra person in it, and slowly, Matt found himself getting comfortable.  He gave himself another minute until he opened his eyes, and then another, then five more...

The next time Matt was aware, he was curled on his side, legs dangling off the side of the bed.  A pillow and be placed under his head, and a blanket draped over him, but the room was empty.

Which was good, because otherwise Shiro would have seen Matt take a deep breath from the pillow, sleepily enjoying the scent of Shiro on it.

When he opened his eyes, Matt saw his glasses sitting on the storage shelf by the bed.

What a dork.

What a painfully cute dork.


	4. Chapter 4

For the fourth time in as many minutes, Shiro’s head jerked around and his whole body went tense.  Really, it was making Matt nervous.  Very nervous.

Admittedly, Shiro was always like this when Matt or his dad were along on a mission.  He got all guard dog protective, jumping at the slightest of sounds or smallest of movements, right side constantly tense like he was about to light his arm at any moment.

It was enough to make Matt exhausted just from watching him.

“What is it, Lassie?  What do you see, boy?”

Shiro paused, then frowned at Matt.  “What?”

Oh, why oh why did Matt love this boy so much?  Such a burden.  “Don’t worry about it.  Just... do you think you could take a couple of deep breaths?  I don’t think Zarkon’s ship is about to land in front of us or something.”

Frowning back, Shiro glanced around deliberately.  “We’re on our own in a busy street several miles from the lions.  The castle can get to us quick, but they don’t teleport.  It’s important to stay focused.”

More like to stay hypervigilant.  But Matt knew better than to throw stones when it came to mental health, so fine, fine.  He’d given it a go, and if anything, now Shiro was being deliberately bodyguard like, instead of just doing it naturally.

Hell, on a different day it might have been entertaining to have Shiro covering over his shoulder and scowling at everyone who looked at Matt funny.  But right now it was really ruining his groove on haggling, because every time he started to establish a back and forth, Shiro would eye a merchant like he wanted to put a weapon and demand they start talking, and they’d claim up and give a final offer just to make Matt go away faster.

No fun at all.

Finally, Matt gave up and handed over the money, aware he could have gotten a better deal and more than a little annoyed at it.  It wasn’t alway easy to get their hands on GAC.  They could always pawn off some of the stuff they didn’t need from the Castle of Lions, but it was hard on Allura and Coran to sell that stuff, and it didn’t fetch as good a price as it should have, anyway.  It wasn’t like they could announce they’d gotten it from the only remaining Altean ship in the universe.  Kind of a bad idea.

Next time, he’d bring Lance and Hunk.  They were more friendly.

It was weird to think of Shiro was one of the  _ unfriendly _ ones, but he and his duckling really were cut from the same cloth, in the end.

“Alright, I think that’s everything.”  Matt checked his list, humming to himself.  “Oh, we’re almost done, Care Bear.  Crack a smile?”

Shiro only moved closer.  “Shush.  I think someone’s following us.”

Groaning, Matt rolled his eyes.  “Shiro, you’ve thought every sneeze in the past twenty minutes has been an attack on our lives.  No one knows we’re here.”

“I don’t think it’s that.  I think they just noticed we’re tourists with money.”  That was a reasonable enough response that Matt paused, no longer so sure about Shiro’s paranoia.  “That metal sheeting across the street reflects well.  Look for the cloaks.”

Sure enough, moving in and out of the crowd behind them were a pair with their hoods up, wearing draped, thick clothing that could hide all manner of weapons.  And they were definitely following their path, even when Shiro put his hand on Matt’s back and sent them in a zig-zagging pattern.

Ah, hell.  Now Shiro was going to bring this up every time Matt complained for the next ever.

“Not a big deal, right?” Matt asked.  “Like, a couple of muggers aren’t exactly going to be a match for you alone, and I’ve got a gun.”

Shiro frowned unhappily.  “I don’t want to attract any attention.  A fight will get guards, and guards could mean Galra.  How long do we have until we’re supposed to be back at the castle?”

Humming, Matt did some mental calculations.  “About half a Varga?  A little over half an hour.  Closer to 40 minutes  Altean time is weird.”

That made Shiro snort, and a hint of a smile played at his lips.   _ Finally. _  Grumpy-pants super serious ‘I must protect the small one’ Shiro was much less fun.  “Alright, so we’ve got time to lose them.  Wanna go on a stroll?”

The wording made Matt chuckle, and he nodded.  “Sure.  I’m guessing they’re gunna wait till things are quieter, too, unless they’re pickpockets, so let’s stay in some very public places.”

“Exactly,” Shiro replied, and he seemed to be relaxing now that there was a tangible threat.  It was sad how much Matt understood that.

Pressing close to Shiro’s side, Matt took hold of his arm and steered him over to one of the busier sections, which happened to be selling some kind of heavily spiced food.  “Do we dare try it?” Matt asked, watching as the vendor wrapped a stick in what looked like molten glasses and smelled almost like barbeque sauce, and handed it to a child (or a very short alien).

Shiro made a considering noise, then shook his head, eyes tracking over to the metal sheets.  Their followers had paused, Matt saw, still sticking close but not making a move.  “Honestly, I’m willing to try it normally, but not right now.  If we get sick that’s just gunna make more problems.”

“No sense of adventure,” Matt teased, but he nodded agreeably.  Until they were more sure what those possible-thieves wanted, anything that could distract them at the wrong time was probably a bad idea.

So Matt didn’t protest as Shiro placed his left hand on the small of his back, though he did jolt slightly.  The pressure was big and warm, even through the clothes.  And nice.  Very nice.

What had he just been saying about distractions, again?

The next closest shop with plenty of crowds was for jewelry, which also had plenty of mirrors to keep an eye behind them.  Half-pushing him over, Shiro took his time picking out earrings and necklaces, holding them up to Matt to update him on their tail so he never had to glance back.

“I’m not sure that’s my color,” Matt drawled, eyeing the giant pink and orange necklace Shiro held.  “I like them seperately, but they’re a little much together.”

“Good thing we’re not buying anything,” Shiro replied flatly, voice low so the stall owner wouldn’t hear.  “Besides, I think it suits you.  ‘A little much’ could be the name of your autobiography.”

“Nope, the name of my sex tape.  Keep up, Shiro.”  Matt’s brows waggled, and he grinned when Shiro rolled his eyes.  No blush, but it was also Shiro: either there was nothing or he went bright red.  No such luck today, it seemed.  “Still behind me?”

Shiro didn’t look over, just nodding as he held the matching earrings against Matt’s lobe.  “Mhmm.  Determined.  I’m not so sure about the tourist thing anymore.  There’s lots of marks with money at a jewelry stand.  Why us?”

Good point.  But a glint of light reflected off of Shiro’s right arm caught Matt’s attention, and it hit.  He tilted his head toward it, brows up.  “You know, if I was a mugger looking for a pretty good score, I’d think an obviously very fancy prosthetic would be a good target.  Probably expensive, even if you don’t know anything about it, and you can assume the person who has it might have a handicap.”

Shiro paused and looked at his prosthetic like he’d just noticed it.  “Oh.  That would explain it.  I don’t think they recognized me, otherwise they’d be a little more careful.  Or they’re very stupid.”

It was still weird to remember that Shiro had an actual  _ reputation _ in the universe.  Yeah, he’d seen Shiro’s fighting prowess, both before and after the Galra, but it was still strange to connect Takashi Shirogane, Star Trek geek and dancing pilot, with  _ the Champion, _ undefeated warrior of the ring and source of Galra watercooler gossip.

“Either way, gives us an advantage.  But it does mean they’re not likely to stop tailing us if we bore them.”

Shiro grimaced and put down the earrings.  “You’re probably right.”

Grinning, Matt tilted his head.  “I’m always right.”

That only made Shiro roll his eyes, but he gave one final glance in the mirror.  “Then maybe we’re better off just heading out and not giving them a chance to get at us.  I’d still rather not get in a fight if we can help it.”

“Or distract them?”  Matt considered, looking around.  “If we can just manage to lose them for a bit we can double back and get away before they find us again.  Keep the arm covered, duck down a few walkways until they’re turned around.  Maybe disappear into a dark alley until they walk by like a cartoon.”

For some reason, that made Shiro’s brow come together in actual thought.  Which was not how this was supposed to go.  Shiro was supposed to latch onto the cartoon part - and he  _ always _ latched onto the silliest part of Matt’s sentence, it was a dependable phenomenon - and poke fun at him for acting like real life was an episode of Looney Tunes.  Then Matt would come up with a plan that would actually distract them.  Or Shiro would but Matt was hoping it was himself, because he liked being useful for something on these outings.  Then they’d be on their merry way.

Instead, Shiro grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along, determination in his step.

“Woah, there, Space Cowboy.  I think you’re speeding here, you want a ticket?”  But Matt picked up the pace, trying not to evolve into a job and give a signal that they were really moving, just to avoid more direct attention.  “There a plan here or did you just decide to book it?”

Shiro glanced back and gave him a distracted nod.  “There’s a plan.”

Ducking down a smaller street, Shiro gave one last glance to make sure their tail hadn’t seen them yet.  Then he ripped off the jacket he was wearing, wrapped it around his metal arm, and pushed Matt against a wall.

Um.

“Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable,” Shiro told him, voice flat.  “I’m sorry for this, I’ll make it up to you later.”

Matt had just a moment to think  _ why does that sound familiar _ and then  _ wait, what? _

Then Shiro pressed into his space, cupped his face with his left hand, and kissed him.

What. The. Hell?

For a moment, Matt’s mind whirled, and his mouth opened in shock, only for Shiro to tilt his head and match the movement so they slotted together better and  _ oh. _

That was... this was...

Wait.  That had been a Captain America reference.  They’d watched it just a few nights ago.  It was...

This was a distraction.  Oh.

Well, that sucked, except that Shiro’s lips were still against Matt’s, and he was still being pushed against a wall with Shiro’s weight over him, warm and solid.  Those were both amazing things.  

Matt reached up, running his fingers through Shiro’s hair in what would have been an affectionate gesture, except that he was just hiding the distinctive white spot from view.  And yeah, they were the only one of their species, but they certainly weren’t the only bipedal, two limbed aliens with some sort of head additions like hair or fur or tentacles, so it probably wouldn’t be too noticeable. And-

_ Oh. _

Shiro’s teeth grazed Matt’s bottom lip, more accident than design, but the tug still sent lightning through him.

Okay, if he was going to suffer through this, Matt was going to give as good as he fucking got, thank you very much.  So he nipped Shiro right back, running his tongue along his lip to soothe after.  Shiro let out a low rumble of a noise, a groan he was holding back.  And Matt wasn’t going to let him get away with that, so he yanked Shiro closer by the hips, which had the added benefit of making them a smaller, more contained target.  Like this, it would probably be a struggle at first to tell there was anyone behind Shiro’s bulk.

The thought was verified a moment later. Matt heard voices calling unhappily, shooting orders back and forth as they ran by.  The translator only picked up some of what they were saying, the rest lost to thick slang, but he caught the words ‘keep going’ ‘find them’ and ‘arm’.

Probably their tails.

They barreled past, and Matt expected Shiro to pull back immediately, but he kept at it for a few longer moments.

A kiss when it wasn’t needed, and absurdly, that was so much harder to bear.  It tugged on Matt’s heart, made him think ‘maybe maybe maybe’, in time with the frantic beat of his pulse.

After a moment of it, Matt was the one to push him back, using the hand still on Shiro’s forehead.  “I think that was it.”

“Oh.  I didn’t hear them.”  That was a surprise, since they hadn’t exactly been subtle, but Matt had also been a bit distracting right about then. 

For a moment, they stared at each other, and Matt’s eyes darted over Shiro’s face: his reddened lips, shiny and wet.  The flush of his cheeks, the way his bangs were mussed from Matt’s hand.

That was going to feature in his dreams, one of these days.  And Matt had thought  _ maybe _ one last time before Shiro’s expression cracked.  He stepped back, putting new distance between them, his shoulders and spine back to military straightness.

Ah.  There it was.  Nevermind then.

“I’m sorry, it was the best thing I could think of,” Shiro said.  “We should head back.  Feel free to kick my ass once we’re safe.”

Matt snorted.  “Don’t think I couldn’t, Shirogane.  I’m too sneaky for you.  But yeah, let’s go.”  He set off at a jog, no longer bothering to hide his pace, and Shiro darted along after him.  “And I don’t mind, dude.  Seriously, there are worse things you could do to a guy than kiss him.  There wasn’t even any inappropriate groping.  Actually, I’m disappointed in you, am I not worth getting felt up?”

Letting out a strangled noise, Shiro caught up as they pushed through the crowd.  “I’m sorry for not molesting you,” he hissed, eyes darting around.  At least this time it was from embarrassment rather than paranoia.  “I figured I’d done enough harm to your person for one lifetime.”

This again?  For fuck’s sake.

Matt careened sideways, knocking their shoulders together.  It was barely enough to make Shiro stumble.  “We’ve had this fight before, and I am definitely going to kick your ass if you keep it up.  Do not start with me, you know you saved my damn life.  And this time you did it by kissing, and I do prefer that, but oh my god would you  _ quit it _ with the guilt complex?”

Shiro’s mouth worked, like he wasn’t sure what to say to that, and eventually he fell quiet.  “I just... dammit, Matt, it sticks with me.  I can’t just get over it.  It was one of the first things I remembered.”

Well, that blew.

“Yeah, well, you startled me then.  Took me a second.  I was a teeny bit emotional at the time, sue me.  But now, in the benefit of hindsight, I’ve told you that you have full permission to save my life by whatever means necessary.  And if that means making out, golly gee, I guess I’ll just have to deal with being kissed.  You do drive a hard bargain.”

This time, Shiro let out a frustrated grumble, as if Matt was the one being ridiculous for not throwing him under a bus.  He was silent as they turned down the road toward where the Castle was parked.  “I hate that I keep having to do these things to you.”

Matt sighed.  “Yeah, well, I hate that you keep putting yourself in situations that make you so unhappy.  We’re even.  But seriously, Shiro, you’re not so awful a kisser that I’m sitting here in pain from it or something.”

Technically true.  Matt was not in pain because Shiro sucked at kissing.  In fact, it was because Shiro was pretty damn good at it.  Fuck his life.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop apologizing for that.”   Shiro glanced over at him, expression warming.  “And it did work.”

“It worked really well.  Go Black Widow, she knows what she’s doing.”  Matt waggled his brows.  “Maybe we’ll go full on spy.  I’ll be your handler, baby.”

Luckily, that made Shiro crack up, and he was still chuckling as they made their way to the castle doors.  “You’re ridiculous.”

Matt only hummed his agreement, eyeing Shiro once again.  “Hmm, you know what, there is something that bugs me about this.”

Freezing, Shiro’s eyes went wide, and his gaze turned suddenly, painfully earnest.  “What’s wrong?”

“Next time, I want to push you against the wall instead.”  Matt cackled when Shiro’s eyes went wide.  “What, can’t take the heat?”

Shiro gaped at him, then seemed to regain control and rolled his eyes.  “Fine, sure.  That’s good with me.”

Woah, what now?

Mouth dry, Matt swallowed hard as Shiro took a few more of the bags and headed in, no doubt to drop off their supplies with Coran.

Next time they’d...

Oh boy.  Yeah.  That was going to be in Matt’s dreams too.

He wasn’t sure if he was dreading it or looking forward to it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for some FAKE ENGAGED?

This was genuinely the most ridiculous thing Matt had heard in awhile.  Considering the content of his life in the past few months, that was pretty damn telling.

“This is the best way to blend in,” Allura insisted flatly, chin up.  “Everyone else on this planet will be here for the same general purpose, and you’ll be able to move around without causing any suspicions.”

Nose crinkled, Pidge eyed Allura like she’d tried to hand her a dead animal.  “But, seriously, marriage?”

Because that’s what this planet was.

Bridal Shower, Wedding, Honeymoon and Las Vegas Planet.

Look, Matt got how globalization worked.  Find a niche and market that.  Universalization should theoretically operate on the same procedure.  If a planet had all the amazing places to have a wedding at, and all the supplies for making weddings work, and had a skilled workforce around the marriage industry, why not?

Except now they needed to investigate one of the largest cities to see if the transport ships going in and out also contained high volume quintessence supplies, and that meant they needed feet on the ground.

The team on their own would probably attract attention, even without their uniforms and armor.

But a couple looking around as they planned their wedding?  Not so much.

“I’ll be one of them,” Shiro offered.  “If Galra ships are involved, we need a way to get into them.”  

That made Keith frown.  “I can access them too,” he pointed out.  “It doesn’t have to be you.”

Shiro took a deep breath.  “Keith, I appreciate the offer, but do you really think you can put up with being fussed over and go through wedding talk, possibly for days?”

“I can if I have to,” Keith replied, but he was openly uncomfortable at the idea.  “I’m just saying that you don’t have to.”

Allura shook her head.  “Actually, Shiro is one of the best options.  We’ll use some makeup on the scar, just to make sure you’re not recognized, but with gloves I doubt anyone will notice.  Getting in won’t be a problem, and if things do go wrong, you have among the best chances of getting back out.”

There was a moment of quiet between Allura and Shiro, and Matt shifted uncomfortably in the wake of it.  He was aware that the last time Shiro had paired off with someone, it had ended with Allura flinging him into an escape pod and the team rushing off to save her.

Luckily, this wasn’t nearly so dangerous a mission.  They just deeply needed the intel to see what the remaining Galra were doing with all that energy the druids had collected.  So that was significantly less likely.

Still, he doubted Allura was going to be the choice.

“Does it have to be one person?” Hunk asked.  “I mean, three or more person unions are a thing on Earth.  I’m not sure how common it is out here.”

Coran sat up straighter.  “Not too unusual at all, but enough so that a group marriage would likely attract more attention.  After all, the more people getting married, the more resources go into it, and that means higher commissions.”

“I can go,” Lance offered.  “A long range weapon is probably a good thing, just in case.”

Pidge made a disagreeing noise.  “It’s an open area, yeah, but not so much for infiltration, I think.  Someone more tech inclined would be a better option.  Covers more ground, and makes getting the intel easier.”  She eyed him, amused.  “Unless you really, really want to marry Shiro.”

“Lance Shirogane,” Hunk tried out, nudging Lance’s side.  “Sounds familiar.  Did you ever write it into the margins of your notes?”

Gaping at them both, Lance sputtered. “No!  C’mon, I mention being a fan  _ once _ and no one ever lets it go.”

“Didn’t they make those posters?” Matt wondered, finally cracking a smile for the first time since Allura had brought up this stupid scheme.  To his delight, Lance’s ears went pink.  Heh.  “Actually, hold that thought, ‘cause does it have to be one group?  We can’t be a  _ group, _ but would multiple parties be better for investigating?”

Allura nodded slowly.  “One more is fine, but I would prefer not to split up the group more than that.  It gets more difficult to monitor you, and the more we have on standby, the more lions we have if need be.”

That made Shiro nod.  “Agreed.  I want at least two paladins at the castle for this, just in case we’re blown and we need backup or someone to come pick us up quickly.  The second team will be recon and backup only, unless something changes.”

“Do I need to be in the second group, then?” Keith asked, frowning.  He eyed the others warily, like one of them was about to launch themselves at him and propose at any moment.

Shiro eyed him for a moment, then shook his head.  “No, I don’t think that’s necessary.  I’d rather you be at the Castle anyway.  If we need pick-up, Red is the best lion for the job.”  That made Keith nod, and he looked like he was trying not to be relieved.  “Lance should definitely be on the other team, and I think Hunk should be with him.  You’re both comfortable enough with each other to play at being engaged, and having the long-ranged weapons as back-up is probably the best call.”

The pair of them shared a glance and shrugged, nodding.  As if anyone didn’t think they could pull off being engaged.  The pair of them already knew each other so long they were damn near common law married, so whatever.

But wait.

“That means Katie is staying,” Matt said carefully. “Right?  You said you wanted two paladins to stay behind.”

Shiro’s smile went sheepish.  “Yes.  If you’re okay with it?”

Because the remaining techie was Matt.

He was going to be playing engaged with  _ Shiro. _

Oh god.

Well, he’d survive this.  Somehow.  Maybe.  At least, he would after spending a while ranting to his father.  Who was going to laugh at him.  Dammit.

Technically, Matt knew he could say no to this.  But first of all, this was the best opportunity he was ever going to get to really push his occasional flirting into full gear and try and get a blush out of Shiro with zero consequences.  Secondly, mission yadda yadda good of the universe blah blah blah.

Sometimes, being one of the good guys sucked.

“Well, it’s not like we don’t have practice kissing,” Matt muttered flatly.  “Why not?”

That made everyone in the room pause.  “Wait, what?” Lance said, sitting up.  “When was this?”

Shiro went red.  “Um.”

“Honey bunches, you didn’t tell them how you pushed me against a wall and had your wicked way with me?”  Matt rested a dramatic hand on Shiro’s arm, pouting at him.

Keith choked.  Pidge’s mouth fell open.  

“You did  _ what _ with him?”  Hunk leaned forward, like this was the best gossip he’d heard in months, even as he patted Keith on the back to help him breathe again and Lance started to laugh.

Okay, yeah, this was definitely going to be fun.

***

“Okay, when I was mentally calling this place the Las Vegas Chapel, I didn’t mean it to be so literal.”

They’d arrived at night, all the better for hiding a lion drop off.  They’d all come in Yellow, and as much as the lions creeped Matt out (and they did: there was something unnerving about them, and he didn’t much like the idea of being inside a sentient creature), he’d felt more more comfortable there.

This was...

Well, gaudy came to mind.

At night, the city was lit with bright lights terrifyingly similar to neon.  This was the hotel district, and so there was plenty of nightlife around it, from clubs for the inevitable (Matt assumed) bachelor/bachelorette parties, bars for hanging out in, restaurants and theaters for romantic nights out.  Crowds milled around, even while both knobby, uneven moons in the sky were at their highest point.

“It’s not that bad yet.  I’m not seeing any Elvises.”  Shiro wrapped an easy arm around Matt’s shoulder, which made him jump.  It turned out to be for steering, since Shiro pulled them both out of the way of a huge, fuzzy alien coming from behind.

Matt snorted.  “Give it time.  Or whatever the alien version of Elvis is.”

Tapping at the comm link like he was scratching his ear, Shiro tucked Matt in tighter to his side.  “You two go ahead and check in.  I want you set up ASAP, Hunk.  We’ll we be there soon.  Pidge, are you in the hotel’s systems?”

“Yup.  You two have a pair of lovely rooms right across the hall from each other.  In case you want to be swingers tonight.”

Lance choked.   _ “Seriously?” _

Pidge snorted.  “Hey, I don’t judge.  What you get up to is your business, so long as there’s no drama later.”

“You know that includes me, right?”  Matt pointed out.

“If I don’t have to hear about it, I don’t care.”

Sam cleared his throat.  “How about we stay on topic?  If anyone would like to do that, let’s not do it on mission time.”

“Agreed,” Shiro added.  “It’ll have to wait for another chance.”

That made Hunk snort, and Matt could see his dry expression as he and Lance headed for the hotel entrance.  They were holding hands, Hunk swinging them between them, and Matt couldn’t help his own smile.  They looked almost innocently in love, and it was hard to tell if it was because of their friendship poking through the disguise or if it was just how they were.  “Shucks.  There goes my evening plans.”

Keith groaned.  “Seriously, I’d prefer not to hear these jokes the entire time.  I get the mission is about acting coupley, but we don’t have to do it on the comms too.  Please?”

“Alright.  Matt and I are going to kill some time.  I think an hour should be long enough to make sure no one thinks we’re together.”

Unless someone assumed via their species.  But humans didn’t look all that odd, universally.  Nothing especially unique about them, no parts or colors that made someone stop and notes them in particular.  With so many species coming and going, they weren’t super likely to get spotted.

Bumping his lip to Shiro’s and enjoying the way that made his eyes widen, Matt nodded to one of the restaurants.  “Should we grab something to eat?”

“I’m not sure anything will be edible,” Shiro replied, brows up.

Matt grinned back.  “Never stopped you before.  I’ve seen you eat Garrison mac and cheese, and I’m pretty sure that stuff is plastic.”

Expression cracking into a real smile, Shiro pouted at him.  “I don’t see why everyone needs to make a big deal out of that.  It’s not that bad.  But fine, fine, point made.  It’s a decent way to pass the time.”

“And it gives us time to get used to this,” Matt murmured.  They paused to let the host seat them, Matt taking care to nearly wrap himself around one of Shiro’s arms to look like one of the typical couples or groups littering the place.  “We’ll call it a practice run for tomorrow.”

Shiro hummed his agreement, resting his chin on his palm.  He looked relaxed in posture, but Matt could see the way his eyes were darting over the crowd, nervous despite himself.  “Probably a good idea.  I know it’s a little late for this, but are you sure you’re comfortable-”

Groaning, Matt leaned back in his chair.  “For the last time, yes.  I’ve done worse things in my life than making doting faces at you, Shirogane.  Not a whole lot, mind, but a few things.  A couple.  At least one.  Give me a minute.”

Shiro planted his foot on Matt’s chair and shoved him away, laughing.  “You’re such an ass.”  But there was nothing but fondness in his gaze and the color to his cheeks.  “Same to you”

“Thanks ever so much.”

“Not so fun, is it?”

They grinned at each other over the table.

Holding up a finger, Shiro tapped the comm again.  “Pidge?  Can you mute us?  We’ll keep an ear out, but I don’t think you guys want to hear our chatter for the next hour.”

There was quick tapping.  “One sec.  I’m gunna run you through a recording program, so it’ll keep everything we don’t hear in case we need to review it later.  That way if you call for me, it’ll automatically unmute.”

“I was about to say,” Hunk said.  “Can we get that too, tomorrow?  Tonight we’ll spend in the hotel but, well...”

Pidge hummed distractedly rather than reply.

“I don’t mind everyone hearing  _ us,” _ Lance said.  “It’s not like I’m going to be saying anything we don’t already know.  Hunk is the best and the cutest of us all, end of story.”

“I’ll agree with that,” Matt replied.  “My favorite is the best.”

Shiro groaned.  “Enough with the favorite picking.  No one is the favorite.”

That made Sam chuckle.  “Do you love all your kids equally, Shiro?”

“Please do  _ not _ start those jokes again.”  Across the table, Shiro’s eyes narrowed in challenge.  “Otherwise I’m going to make you pick which of your kids is your favorite.”

Sam laughed at that.  “I’ll pick you.  You’ll get flustered, and they’ll both assume I did it to shut you up.  Easy.”

“Dad’s got you pegged,” Matt sing-songed.  “Also, you’re all terribly distracting, fun fact.  Constant chatter is not great for concentration.  I haven’t even read the drink menu yet.”

“Now you know what it’s like when you keep talking on missions,” Keith pointed out flatly.  “About time you got your own medicine.”

Matt put a dramatic hand to his chest, gasping in offense.  

“Alright, alright, muting you now.  Have a good dinner, call if you need anything, have Matt home by 2 AM.”

“Thank you, Pidge.”  Shiro rolled his eyes and picked up the menu.  “At least we’ll never forget this is a performance with them listening in.”

Matt’s brows jumped up, and he studied Shiro’s face.  His head was tilted, his dark hair catching the reflected neons even inside the restaurant, and Matt had the sudden thought that he wished Shiro was wearing his glasses again.

Down, boy.

Tapping his fingers on the table, Matt considered him.  “Was that a risk?  Forgetting why we’re here, I mean.”

Shiro froze, and he dropped his menu a couple of inches to meet Matt’s gaze.  “No, not that.  I’m not likely to forget that little detail.  I just mean remembering to think about it rather than getting distracted.”

Damn the lights outside, because Shiro almost looked like he was blushing.

Before Matt could get the chance to needle, someone in a uniform stepped forward, skin pale blue and all four eyes bright with false cheer.  “Hey, sorry for the wait!  It’s been a busy evening.  I’m Daximin and I’ll be your server this evening.  Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Just a water, please,” Shiro replied, flashing her a quick smile.

Matt leaned back in his chair and pouted at Shiro.  “Oh, Snuggle Bun, we’re planning our wedding. You don’t want to get something more fun?”

Shiro’s gaze snapped to him.  “Later,” he replied flatly.  “It’s early yet, dear.”

Okay, that wasn’t fair.  Matt called Shiro stupid nicknames all the time with barely a blink, but one little endearment made his heart want to stop?  Bullshit.  Utter bullshit.

“So serious,” Matt muttered, smacking Shiro’s arm with his menu.  “Live a little.  But fine, fine, we’ll get a bottle of something later instead.  I’m not going to drink without you.”

Shiro relaxed just an inch, which was really insulting.  Did he really think Matt was going to be drinking during a mission?  Jeez.  “A water for me too.  Or, actually, the... warm jikono?  That sounds good, I’ll try some of that.”

“Perfect,” the server told them, holding a pad with their long, winding tail and scribbling onto it.  “It’ll be out in just a bit.”

Shiro offered another of those polite smiles.  “Sounds great, thank you.”  Once they was gone, his brows jumped.  “Snuggle Bun?”

“You really think I’m going to give up the chance for more nicknames?  This is what I’ve been training for, Shiro.  This is what my whole life has lead up to.”

That earned him a flat look, and Shiro snapped his menu up in front of his face.  “This is going to be a long few days.”

“Aww, don’t be like that.”  Matt scooted his chair closer until he could press against Shiro’s side.  “Seriously, don’t be like that, I don’t want to attract attention for fighting.  We’re supposed to be in honeymoon love, Stud Muffin.”

Shiro snorted, but put his menu back down and glanced down at Matt.  “I’m pretty sure even people planning their wedding don’t get along perfectly.  Actually, this place is probably the source of more fights than any other place.  The bickering over colors or flowers alone could probably be considered a war.”

Pulling back, Matt tilted his head.  “You know, I expected you to be more romantic.”

“For marriage?”  Shiro rolled his eyes.  “Relationships are nice.  Marriage has nothing to do with romance, except that people pretend it’s some cure-all.  It’s just a legal tie.  It’s nice, to be considered family and the rights that gives you, but it’s not  _ inherently _ romantic.  Really, it’s more of a bother.”

Matt stared at him in fascination.  “This is so weird.”

Shiro stared right back, brows up.  “Why is that weird?”

“Because the rest of the time you’re all ‘oh the power of friendship can save us’ or ‘we can do it if we believe in ourselves’, but for marriage it’s all cynical.”  Matt shrugged.  “I don’t know that I can explain it.  It’s just amusing.”

“A marriage contract doesn’t change the fundamental relationship, is all I’m saying,” Shiro replied.  “Marriage doesn’t keep someone together, except by making it a financial hassle to separate.  Like, your parents don’t still love each other because they’re married.  They do because they had a healthy relationship.  If they were or weren’t married, that wouldn’t change your Dad’s behavior now.  He wouldn’t... I don’t know, go off and find someone else while he was out here just because he signed a marriage contract.  It’s because they love each other and have an agreement to be monogamous.”  Then his lips pulled up mischievously.  “Or that they’ve both agreed not to.  Didn’t he say something about an open marriage, once?”

Matt cried out and covered his eyes, resting his head on the table.  “He was joking.   _ He was joking.” _

Laughing, Shiro leaned back smugly in his chair.  “Are you sure?  Because he looked pretty serious.”

“Joking!” Matt groaned, probably loud enough that they were getting that attention he’d just said they should be avoiding.  But it was hard to care when there were such gross images in his head, and especially when Shiro finally cracked up, laughing loud and delightedly at Matt’s open distress.

When he glanced up, Shiro’s eyes were warm and his cheeks were flushed, and it made Matt’s chest ache to watch.

Finally he straightened up, pushing his bangs back out of his face impatiently.  “Is there no romance in you, Shirogane?  Is this marriage doomed to failure?”

“Considering Voltron proves that emotional connections are not only real, but literally powerful enough to run machines off of?  Yeah.  I believe in love.”  Shiro’s eyes darted up, and he frowned as he absently fixed Matt’s bangs, flattening them into place.  With a quick glance around, proving they did in fact catch some attention, Shiro leaned forward and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to Matt’s lips.

Matt’s heart felt like it stopped, and then suddenly kicked into overdrive.

Did love have to feel like a panic attack?  It was really inconvenient.

***   
After a quick meal, they spent a little while orienting themselves to the area directly around their hotel.  The one they’d picked was close to the transport station their possible Quintessence shipments were coming to, which meant they could wander around together and get a good look at the building and all possible points of entry without any suspicion. 

Well, so long as they looked like they were just a couple having an evening stroll through the city.  Which wasn’t hard.  Matt pressed against Shiro’s side, the natural arm flung over his shoulders, warm and heavy. It was even a bit cool out, so the contact helped with that.  

Functional.  It was all functional.

Matt didn’t really care when he got to have Shiro wrapped around him like this.

“Hm, that second story window has a pretty wide ledge.  You could climb that, right?”

Shiro hummed and glanced over at the building, quickly spotting what Matt was talking about.  “Uh... nothing directly under it, but doable if I got a good running start.  It’s not too high.”  His fingers tapped absently against Matt’s shoulders as he considered.  “Might be hard to get the window open at that point, at least without letting everyone know I was there.  Though I could get up the roof from that window, I think.”

Smiling, Matt looked away before anyone or any camera could notice them looking for too long.  “Mmm, we need to get you a catsuit.  Hey!  Black Cat.  Nice.  Get you the white fluffy collar too, it’d go with your aesthetic.”

“I’d need practice with the heels,” Shiro replied thoughtfully.  

Oh, what a nice mental image.

“Alright, I think we’ve killed enough time,” Shiro said, leading them in a slow circle back around.  “Let’s get settled in the hotel.”

Matt hummed distractedly, looking at Shiro rather than the building.  Definitely to avoid being caught staring.  Yup.  Certainly for that reason.  “Good night’s sleep tonight?”

That only got Shiro to snort.  “Sure.”

Heart clenching, Matt frowned.  “Were you planning on sleeping at all?”

“Depends,” Shiro replied easily.  “How many people in the hotel do we want to wake up at odd times.”

Matt snorted right back.  “It’s a honeymoon and wedding planning hotel.  No one in there is sleeping anyway.  You’re not going to sit in a chair in the dark all night.  No way.”

“It’s not like I get a choice,” Shiro replied, lowering his voice as they got closer to the hotel, and therefore closer to where there were more people.  Matt might have thought it was fear of being caught, but he suspected it was just that Shiro was embarrassed of his nightmares.  “I won’t disturb you, I promise.”

“That’s not- for fuck’s sake, Shiro.”  They paused the argument to log in with the hotel, getting their key and heading up.  “At least relax with me, alright?  Don’t go running off into the night because you’re not sleeping and you’re bored.  I’ll stay up with you.”

Frowning at him, Shiro shook his head.  “If we’re both tired looking-”

Matt waved him off.  “Then we were up all night having sex, like most couples - or more - here.  I’m sure we’re not the only ones who’ll look a bit ragged.”  He shot Shiro a grin.  “You want to limp or should I?”

To his delight, Shiro went pink.  “I...  Neither of us should limp.”

“Ruin my fun.  C’mon, we’ll get set up, then I have some of Katie’s movies on my pad.  We’ll watch a couple.  Better for you to lie down and relax, at least.  You’ll be more rested than if you worked all night.”

Shiro frowned at him the whole elevator ride to their floor, then he sighed.  “Alright.  But don’t stay up just to keep me company.”

“Fine, fine, Care Bear, I hear you.  But you know I’ll stay up on my own anyway.”

“To decode card games,” Shiro replied dryly, but he smiled instead of protested.

The little smile lasted until they were both in the hotel and set up, and then they remembered it was a literal honeymoon suite.

One bed.

Oh, jeez.

“So,” Matt chirped, ignoring his own racing pulse.  “You a left side or a right side kinda guy?”

Shiro blinked slowly.  “Um.  Either.  If we’re going to be facing out, on the right.  I sleep on my left.”

Okay, that made sense.  Galra arms were probably not very cozy.  “Alrighty, sounds good.  You bring something special to wear for our wedding, Sweet Cheeks?”

This time, Shiro actually ducked his head.  “Matt!”

“C’mon, you gotta dress to impress on your wedding day. Show me what you’ll be wearing under your suit.  Is it a lacy number?  I gotta know?”

There was a cough.  “I picked the wrong time to check in,” Hunk muttered.

Matt only laughed.  “No, perfect time.  You agree with me, right?  Shiro’s slacking over here.  How are we going to make this work if he won’t put in the effort?”

“Just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean someone should wear something just for you,” Hunk replied immediately, surprisingly heated.  “If he chooses to, that’s one thing, but it’s a gift and not something you’re entitled to.”

Brows up, Matt glanced at Shiro, who hid his smile behind.  “Woah there, Hunky Dory, you’re right.  Good attitude.  I’m just teasing.  You’re both all settled for the night?”

“Yeah, Pidge and I got backdoors into the shipping databases, so we’re keeping an eye on the next couple of days.  The suspicious shipment is still due tomorrow around 11.”  Hunk cleared his throat, tone just slightly strangled.  Probably embarrassed.  

“Perfect.  Thank you, Hunk.  Make sure you’re ready around then.  Matt and I will take staking out the area.  And thank you for standing up for my honor.”

There was louder laughter over the line.  “Hunk’s too good for Matt’s sense of humor,” Lance told them fondly.

“True.  It’s okay, Hunk, you’re still my favorite,” Matt reassured him.

Hunk paused.  “Why does that actually make me feel better?”

Despite the fact that the other two couldn’t see it, Matt beamed.  “Because everyone wants to be my favorite.  That’s immutable law.”

“Get some sleep, you two,” Shrio replied, cutting through the conversation.  “I’ll check in with you at 8 AM ship time.”

Lance groaned.  “No sleeping in?  Rude.”  He imitated the sound of a whip.

Unable to help it, Matt burst into laughter.  “Not yet.”

“Matt!”  Shiro groaned.  “Alright, Pidge?”  He waited until there was the click of someone joining the call.  “Can you mute us again?”

“Sure,” Pidge replied, yawning.  “Someone’s always on tonight, if you need help.  We’ll be doing shifts.  Any of our names will catch the program, but it’s Keith for the next few hours.  Don’t say anything you don’t want him to hear.”

Matt made the whip noise again, and Hunk squeaked.

“Good night, you three,” Shiro called, and he reached over and shoved Matt’s shoulder, making him rock in place.  There was a chorus of replies, and then quiet.  Turning, Shiro eyed Matt, brow up.

“Lance started it,” Matt replied, which was a complete and total lie.  “And if you’d just worn the correct underwear...”

Shiro groaned.  “You’re unstoppable.”  He took his clothes, then headed into the bathroom.  Afterward, there was quiet rather than the sound of a shower or the toilet.

So he was changing in there because of his scars, probably.

That might be a good idea.  Matt had thought about it, but he honestly had no idea what he’d do when he was actually, fully confronted with them.  Not just a glance like when Shiro’s shirt rode up, but having all those scars at his fingertips.  Matt had finally gotten used to the visible one on Shiro’s face, but they were all clear reminders of what Shiro had survived for him.

Sighing, he got into his own pajamas and sprawled out, staring at the ceiling.

Matt wanted the chance to be brave.  He wanted to see and touch them, wanted to tell Shiro he was gorgeous without any shake to his voice.  He wanted to have the right words to make Shiro smile and melt, to lose the nervous edge he’d have.

But Matt had learned the hard way that when push came to shove, sometimes Matt’s expectations of himself didn’t match reality.

Well, first he needed to have the opportunity.  

When Shiro came out, he was wearing a soft grey sweater and loose black pants.  The only new skin was his neck, no longer covered by a high collar. 

Ah, well.  Maybe that was for the best right now.  Instead Matt took his turn at the bathroom next, getting ready for bed, then flopped down comfortably.  “Okay, what are you thinking for movie night?  You feeling musicals?  Musicals seem like a good idea tonight.”

“Whatever you feel like watching,” Shiro replied, moving closer.  There was a careful inch of space between them, still, but Matt could still feel the warmth of his body.  

“Super helpful,” he shot back.  “Really putting yourself out there.”  Shiro only laughed, so Matt pulled up something silly and lighthearted and settled in.

Matt fell asleep before the end.

So did Shiro.

***

When Matt woke up, it was slowly, because someone was shifting against him.  And he was warm.  The kind of warm he usually tried to imitate with heating pads and tightly wrapped blankets.  A weight pressed against his back, and-

Oh.  It was breathing.  It was a person.

It was Shiro.

It had to be early, if the fact that their alarm hadn’t gone off was any indication.  Normally Shiro was Lt. Bright and Early, both a product of his bad sleep schedule and military discipline.  But today, apparently, was the day he slept through that.  It was also one of those rare days that Shiro slept through the night.

It was luck, Matt knew.  There was no way to cuddle someone out of their PTSD dreams, no matter how much he wished for it: it would solve some of Matt’s problems too.

It was Shiro’s good luck, or Matt’s terrible luck.  Because now Shiro was pressed against his side, heavy and soft and warm, his breath ghosting over Matt’s shoulder, hand heavy on Matt’s chest and-

Oh, hell.

Matt needed to get away to compose himself, except he was pretty sure he’d rather die than unravel himself from Shiro right now.

Instead he turned his head, unable to help it.  Shiro’s expression was totally slack, still utterly asleep.  It took years off his face, though the scar over his nose still made his face seem longer and therefore older.  Shiro’s eyelashes were long and dark, contrasting with his still-too-pale cheeks, and his lips were slightly parted.

Matt’s hand rose as if on its own, and he paused right before he touched Shiro’s cheek, just to see if it was as soft as it looked.

Dammit.  Matt’s heart was a damn traitor too, because it was pounding and aching and making a general racket in his chest, and Matt wanted to tell it to shut the hell up in case it woke Shiro.  And just for being a pest, too.

Shiro stirred again, and Matt froze guiltily.  When he stirred, Matt considered slamming his eyes shut, but his hand was still raised.  So instead he made a show of stretching and yawning, as if he was just getting up.  

“Morning, sunshine,” Matt called cheerful, as if the entire situation didn’t make him want to catch on fire.  “Who was right and who was wrong?”

“Matt,” Shiro whined, voice rough with sleep, and oh man that was not at all helping the situation downstairs.  “It’s too early.  Shh.”

“Not that early,” Matt told him.  “It’s-” he paused to check. “7:20 ship time.”

Shiro shot up suddenly, nearly shoving Matt onto his stomach with the force of it.  “It’s what?  I never-” He paused and stared at the wall.  “Huh.”

Laughing, and hopefully the noise sounded right, Matt stretched again.  “Mhmm.  You were lazy this morning.  Maybe musicals are the key to a good night’s sleep for you, hm?”  Actually, that might hold water.  Matt doubted there was a lot of singing in Galra arenas.  There certainly hadn’t been in their mining camps.  ”Kept you grounded.”

“Maybe,” Shiro replied softly, and he looked at his lap rather than Matt.  “For now, we need to be getting ready.  We have an appointment across the street in an hour.”

“That’s practically forever,” Matt replied easily.

Shiro rolled his eyes but stood up, and he made his way to the bathroom.

If he was walking a little funny... well, it was first thing in the morning.  Matt tried not to get his hopes up.

That part wasn’t hard.  Putting it out of his mind was harder.

Heh, harder.

Damn his brain.

***

Two hours of snuggling together and trying various alien foods, none of which were cake and all of which were declared absolutely essential for any proper union, Matt was very full and very comfortable on a bench with Shiro.  He pet through Shiro’s hair and watched the vendors and fountains, which coincidentally were right in front of the trading station.  “Mm, you think that’s it?”

Shiro let out a lazy noise, head still resting on Matt’s shoulder.  Despite how he was flopped dramatically, Matt could feel how tense he was.  Shiro was completely ready to jump into action and fight if need be.  It was odd, to see one thing and to feel another, but Shiro tended to be like that.

After a moment, Shiro nodded.  “I think so.  Hunk?”

“I’m in,” Hunk replied, and he ignored Lance’s fond chuckle at the familiar phrasing.  “They’re preparing for landing now.  After that, it’ll all be moved to storage area... I have no idea what that’s supposed to be.  Is it a letter?  It looks like a dog’s nose.”

“Yeah, that gets used for naming a lot,” Matt replied.  “It’s like the Greek alphabet for us.  Like Beta.”

Hunk hummed his understanding.  “Okay, storage area Beta then.”

“Do we go for it now?” Lance asked carefully.  “What does it say about that?”

“There’s scheduled pick-up tomorrow,” Hunk replied.  “But I don’t know that we can trust that.”

Shiro nodded, which made his hair nuzzle into Matt’s neck.  He fought to keep from jumping at the contact.  “Tonight is fine,” he replied.  He didn’t seem in any hurry to move.

Neither was Matt.

***

This entire plan was the worst idea ever.

Hand holding through the streets, pressed together in restaurant booths, Shiro whispering in Matt’s ear as they planned, Matt fixing Shiro’s collar for him.

Little intimate gestures that were made to communicate something that Matt desperately wanted to be true.

Worse were the little glances Shiro kept giving him, quiet and bright.  The considering tilt to Shiro’s head and the hint of curiosity to his voice.

He was figuring it out.

Shiro was finally, finally figuring it out.

In some ways, the rejection would be a relief.  Shiro would take him aside and oh so seriously tell Matt that they were still friends and he cared for him, just like that, and he promised not to make it weird.  He’d even do a really good job of it.  At least it wouldn’t be hanging between them.

But Matt wasn’t sure he’d survive that kind of vulnerability.  He hated it and always had.  Being someone’s prisoner had only made that worse.

***

“This plan was the worst idea ever,” Matt hissed into the comms as they ran for the exit of the trading station.  Getting in hadn’t been too bad, and neither had avoiding the guards on the way in.

Accidentally blowing up the quintessence supply had caught some attention, though, and they needed a plan fast.

Shiro grabbed Matt’s hand and half-dragged him through a doorway that lead to the stairs.  “If we can get outside we can distract them.  I don’t think they caught a good look at us.”

That was fair.  There had been a lot of sparking and smoke, and there was still a lot of yelling and panicking from that direction.  “Getting outside is kind of the hard part.”

“Lance?” Shiro called.  “Do you have a clear shot of the building?”

There was a pause.  “Yeah, but I don’t see you.  The angle is bad.”  Lance’s voice was tight and anxious.  “I can get to you in ten minutes.”

“No need, you don’t need to get to us.  Just shoot out some windows on the upper level, please.”  Shiro sounded absurdly calm as they burst into the first floor.  “I want them thinking we’re heading up.  Just you.  Hunk, I want you monitoring them and making sure they fall for it, okay?  And no offense, but I think the multi-shot is a bit much for this.”

“Fine with me,” Hunk replied.  “The fourth floor shouldn’t have anyone right by us right now.”

Lance fired, and the sound of his gun echoed with the sound of banging above them.

“Give it another shot higher up in two minutes, then go out of there,” Shiro told them.  “The authorities will be here soon and we don’t want to break you out of jail again.”

That made Hunk laugh.  “We still haven’t beaten Keith’s record.”

“No one needs to beat anyone’s jail record,” Pidge added.  “Besides, Keith’s ahead by three.  You’re not winning here.”

“Actually, if anyone’s winning, I am,” Coran replied cheerfully.  “And you’ll need a few centuries to catch up.  Best not to try.”

Shouting ahead made Matt start, and he shot his arm out to help stop Shiro’s momentum.  They turned down another hall just as they heard a guard running by.

Shiro shot Matt a thankful smile, and they both waited a few moments, then darted out after the guard had gotten a ways away and darted for the hall.

There was shouting from the next hallway over just as they made it to the door, but Shiro flashed the Galra hand on and smashed it into the control panel, then yanked the door open.

“Play along,” Shiro told him, near breathless.

Matt glanced at him.  “With what?” 

Without answering, Shiro stopped and held onto Matt to still him too, then shoved his hands into his pockets to hide the Galra metal.  “Why did you even agree to marry me if you aren’t going to take this seriously?”  Shiro shouted, with such sudden venom that Matt nearly took a step back.

“What are you talking about?” Matt replied, baffled.  His own voice rose on sheer adrenaline, and he scowled at Shiro.

Scoffing, Shiro gestured back toward the buildings where they’d tried food earlier.  “You were barely paying attention!  ‘Fine, yes, whatever,’ to everything.  Like you don’t have an opinion, you just don’t care!”

The plan clicked just as Matt heard the guard encounter the melted door.  “You don’t like any of my opinions anyway!” He shouted right back, eyes narrowed with playful fire as he stepped into Shiro’s space.  “Every time I try to say something it’s all ‘oh you’ll see it  _ my _ way if you just look harder’.   I’m looking, and all of it looks tacky!”

Shiro let out a choked noise that was probably supposed to be outrage, but just sounded amused to Matt.  A pair of guards pushed their way out, but froze at the sight of them arguing at full volume.  “My taste is tacky?  You wanted everything in orange!”

“Orange is fine,” Matt shot back, insulted on behalf of his favorite color.  The absolute shit.  “You just want everything black and white because you have no taste.  Color won’t kill you, sweetheart.”

That made Shiro’s eyes narrow, and he leaned into Matt’s space.  “It’s classy,” he hissed venomously.

“It’s lazy,” Matt replied smugly.  “You know, I genuinely wasn’t sure you weren’t colorblind for the first half a year I met you, because either you wear no colors or you clash.”

There was a soft noise over the comms.  “I can’t tell if they’re honestly arguing or not,” Keith muttered.

“Hey, you two!”  Matt and Shiro burst apart, staring at the guard.  “Did you two see anyone come out of here?”

Hah.

Shiro huffed, the bitchiest noise that Matt had ever heard him make.  “My fiancé can’t possibly see past his own nose, much less to your door.”  Then he eyed them both, completely dismissive.  “Someone may have.  We weren’t guarding anything.”

The guard who had spoken bristled - literally, their fur stood up - but the other one grabbed their arm.  “They must have come this way.  The door was melted, and-”

Another shot rang out, and one of the windows on the fifth floor burst.

“Up there!” The furred guard yelled, and they started back for the building.  “There’s still someone up there!”

The other one followed.  “But the door...?”

“They’re gone, we can still catch this one.”

Once both guards left, Shiro turned to Matt.  “Ready?”

“Yeah.”  Matt grabbed his hand and they bolted.  After a few seconds, he started to laugh, and Shiro joined him.

This was the worst plan ever.

And it had still worked.

***

Extraction took half an hour.  Pidge picked them up, and Matt spent the ride sitting next to Shiro, still on the cusp of giddy giggling.  It was so rare he got to take part in an actual mission, and this had been such a strange one.  But they’d gotten out without injury and the suspicious quintessence supply was completely gone.

Not bad for a couple of days work.

Pidge kept shooting them odd looks, but she never said anything.  Matt wasn’t sure what they were for, and she never said, probably because Lance kept talking about his shots and how he and Hunk snuck out.  Shiro was engaged, no doubt because he wasn’t as keyed up as Matt, quick with praise for their good work.

Once they got to the castle, Shiro stood up and started for the Green Lion’s hatch.  It was only then that Matt realized they were still holding hands.

Oh.  That would be why Pidge kept looking at them funny.

“Shiro,” Matt murmured, and he squeezed their joint hands.

At first, Shiro didn’t seem to realize what was wrong.  Then he started and glanced down.  “Oh.  Sorry.  Got in the habit.”  He let go, and his hand clenched by his side.  “I’m going to go talk to Allura.  Go rest up.”

With that he left, hand sliding into the pocket of his vest.

Matt watched him go until he was totally out of sight, then swallowed hard.

This was the worst plan ever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I updated the wrong fic.
> 
> -scrubs face-
> 
> You get both, I guess

Days passed, and then weeks, until Matt finally felt like the ghost of that damned marriage mission was gone.  He’d walked on eggshells around Shiro after, afraid he’d bring something up or that he’d slip up and get affectionate again when he shouldn’t.

Because Matt missed Shiro.  It was stupid to miss someone who slept the next hall over, but he missed what they had for that day.  He’d liked pressing against his side, liked wrapping his arms around Shiro’s and cooing sarcastic affections until he rolled his eyes and laughed.  Liked getting to smile at him and feel like it was a real one, a full one, not a smirk so no one could tell that he was in love.

And he’d really, really liked kissing him.

Though, Matt had known that before.

Dammit.  It was bad when he was kind of hoping to go on a mission that went bad, just in case there was another chance to make out for the good of the universe.

...Matt’s life was weird.

But Shiro never said anything.  He was quiet for a few days, and so Matt started to avoid him in pure panic, afraid he was caught.  But other than a handful of lingering glances, Shiro seemed right back to normal.

It was easy to fall back into the routine of friendship, but it left a bitter taste now that he’d known what he was missing.

Better to have love and lost, huh?  Whoever came up with that could fuck off.

So Matt found himself helping Shiro clean up after dinner and watching the way he winced, barely noticeable, each time he reached down.  A quick glance around proved they were alone.  Good.  If Allura or any of the other paladins were around, Shiro wouldn’t admit to having a hole in his head, much less something more personal.  “Shoulders hurt?”

“What?”  Shiro picked his head up like he’d been startled out of his thoughts.  “I didn’t catch that.”

“Your shoulders.  Are they hurting you?”

Shiro still stared for a moment, then he gave a tiny nod.  “Yeah, just a little tight.  I think I overdid it the other day.  Nothing serious.  I’ll probably find out of those heating pads for tonight.  How did you know?”

Matt walked past, carrying a stack of plates and smirking.  “A magician never reveals his secrets.  I know everything, Gummy Bear.  It’s time you accept this.”

“I don’t-”  Shiro visibly paused, likely trying to figure out what part of Matt’s response to tackle first and failing.

Joke was on him.  That was half of why Matt threw so much shit at him.  Shiro’s brain would have a traffic jam and he got away scott free.  Heh.

“Don’t worry about it,” Matt replied, waiting for Shiro to grab his own stack and head into the kitchen.  He set his plates down into the not-a-sink-says-Coran.  “You want any help with it?”

Shiro frowned down at him.  “With finding a heating pad?  I can probably manage that much, I’ve been living here for a while now.”

Oh, this man.  “Not to find you a heating pad, no.  To help you relax.  A massage or something.”  Matt paused, considering.  “No pressure or anything.  We could do it through your shirt if that bugs you, and it’s just a thought.  But we can’t have a defender of the universe throwing out his back because he’s too tense.  Imagine what the lil cadets will say if you do that?  You’ll never live it down.”

“You’re a little cadet,” Shiro replied flatly, but it lacked any kind of heat.  Instead, he looked like he was considering the idea.

Matt hadn’t thought he’d get this far.

He might actually-

“Alright,” Shiro replied.  “I’ll owe you one another time.  But you’re right, I’m likely to injure myself at this rate.  I don’t want to have to spend time in a pod because of something so silly.”

Holy fuck he’d said yes.

Oh god.

“Great,” Matt managed, and if it was a touch strangled, he’d never admit it in a million years.  “Uh, my room in two hours? I need to finish off some projects, and we both know you’re never done.  That work for you?”

Shiro nodded, and there was a hint of a smile to his expression.  If Matt didn’t know better - and he did, because Matt knew everything, dammit - he’d think Shiro was laughing at him.

If he was getting screwed with by Takashi fucking Shirogane, genuinely one of the nicest and most sincere people he knew, then Matt was going to have to consider that he might be in an alternate universe.

Matt nodded back, eyes still wide.  “Cool.  Awesome. That’s a plan.”  He shoved the plates into the not-a-dishwasher-says-Coran and turned.  “See you then.  Very busy.  Projects.  Bye.”

“Have fun,” Shiro called after him, and this time he was definitely laughing.

Alright, time to find an airlock to throw himself out of.  Maybe Keith would have advice.

***

So, it wasn’t like Matt had never given a massage before.  He’d actually used his part-time job money to pay for lessons the year before he’d gone to the Garrison.  At the time he had big plans about being some sort of debonair seducer, and he’d grown a deeply ill-advised mustache to match.

If there was one good thing about being lost in space, it was that Pidge no longer had access to the photographs from that year to blackmail him with.

Matt had already managed to identify a couple of oils in the med bay that were probably good for massaging.  A quick run by Coran proved they weren’t harmful, and at least they didn’t smell bad.  Whatever they used it for was definitely floral, and it smelled relatively nice.

So that was good.  And they could just use a bed with an extra sheet over it to lay on, no problem.

Everything was all set up.

Except for Matt, who was not at all prepared for the fact that he was about to slather Shiro in oil and feel him up.

What had he been  _ thinking? _  After he just spent weeks on eggshells because he thought Shiro was going to figure out, he’d just signed himself on a one way ticket to Inappropriate-Touching-ville.  This wasn’t a mission where they were cuddling up for the greater good.  Matt was going to get flustered and there was no excuse.

While he was working himself into an anxious lather, there was a knock on his door.

Too late to cancel.  Maybe Matt could hide in the closet and pretend not to be home?

Then again, he’d never really been a closet kind of guy.

Steeling himself - this was for a good reason, Shiro definitely needed the help, get a  _ hold of yourself, Holt _ \- Matt opened the door.  “Hey there, Starshine.  Welcome to your stay at Chez Holt, party of one, 7:30 Ship Time appointment.  I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork as this is your first stay.”

“If you actually made me paperwork, I’d fill it out,” Shiro offered, stepping in.  He looked unruffled, but there was a hint of tension to his shoulders that spoke of nerves.

Then Matt remembered the tight shoulders were the reason they were doing this whole thing and felt like an idiot.

“I should have,” he replied easily.  “Just to make you fill it out to be a good little minion.  I’d add some fine print about you being part of my eventual evil army.  I’d give you a good job, too.  Want to be my General?”

Shiro rolled his eyes and grinned.  “Nah, sounds like a lot of work.  If I’m legally bound, I want a cushy gig.  I want to sit around and offer dubious advice.  We’ll call it being the Matt Holt.”

Placing a wounded hand on his chest, Matt gaped at him.  “After I offered to give you a massage out of the bottom of my heart?  Cruel.  Rude.  Off with your head.”

“You’re right,” Shiro replied, as though Matt had been serious.  “You’re doing me a favor, I shouldn’t tease.  Thank you, Matt.  I appreciate it.”

Matt froze.  “I was- I mean, you’re welcome, but I wasn’t serious, dude.”

“I know.  Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be thankful.  I owe you one.”

Rolling his eyes, Matt gestured to the bed.  “I owe you a thousand for keeping Katie safe and saving my life, don’t start with me.  You won’t like this game, Shirogane.”

Shiro opened his mouth to argue, but then let it out.  “Yeah, alright, fine.  No owing anyone.”  He stepped up to the bed, then paused.  “Am I supposed to be shirtless?”

“If you want to,” Matt replied carefully.  “It’s definitely not required.  It’ll help, and I can’t use the massage oil with your shirt on, but it won’t hurt anything either if you want to keep covered.”

For a moment, Shiro visibly hesitated, and Matt thought he was figuring out how to politely take the excuse.  Then, he reached down and unzipped his vest.

Matt’s mouth went dry.

No goddamn way.

Casually, as if this wasn’t an incredibly vulnerable action, Shiro took off his vest, folding it and setting it down on a chair.  Then he stripped off his shirt.

Oh no, he was not going to survive this.

It was impossible not to notice the scars.  They were painfully obvious, gnarled and off-colored.  Matt was all too aware of how Shiro had gotten them, and he had to wonder if any were from that first fight with Myzax.  

Taking a deep breath, Matt steadied himself.  Shiro would clam up if there was even a hint of Matt’s still cloying guilt.   And maybe an out would be a good thing, except Shiro would turtle back up into his shirt and lose all the ease he’d gained over the past few months.

So none of that.  Matt would rather bash his head into the wall until he passed out.

Besides, there was so much else to look at.

Shiro was muscled and warm and lined in ways that made Matt’s hands ache with the anticipation of touch.  He was a tactile experience, the planes of him rolling and shifting as he carefully folded his shirt into a neat square.  The dip of his spine drew Matt’s gaze down to the small of his back, and the little strip of skin that he’d once been so taunted by, now on full display.  He could reach out, run his fingertips over it, trace the path of muscles and tendons and scars, duck his head down to taste-

Focus, Holt.

“Go on, lay down,” Matt managed, and it was almost his normal tone.  

But it was still off enough that Shiro frowned at him, shoulders shifting up as he tensed.  “Are you okay with this?”

Oh so very okay, thank you for asking.

“I’m fine.  You have to forgive me, I’m suddenly a Victorian novel heroine and I seem to have come down with the vapors,” Matt replied, as flat as possible.  “You’re hot like a tater tot, Gravy Train.”  It was better to own up to finding Shiro attractive - because, c’mon, he was a good-looking guy, didn’t need to be hopelessly in love to know that was true - than to make him feel judged for his scars.

Shiro paused, and then his lips curled up, very nearly shy.  “You think...?”  He glanced down at himself and snorted, but Matt only stared him down.  But he didn’t look incredulous for once.  He seemed  _ pleased. _

Well, good.  At least they had that going to for them.

“C’mon, we’re burning cycle time, here,” Matt called.  “You want the massage or do you want to blush like I told you I like your pigtails?”

Shiro rolled his eyes and climbed onto the bed.  “I can do both.”

“You sure can.  Look at you go.”  Matt pulled over the little bottle of oil and popped it open.  “Anywhere no good for you?  Back of the neck, maybe?  Tickle spots are exempt from this list because I want to know for future reference.”

Glancing back, Shiro narrowed his eyes.  “I have no tickle spots at all,” he shot back.

Mhmm, the Shiro doth protest too much.  Matt didn’t respond to the obvious lie, instead raising his brows pointedly.

Resting his head back down, Shiro shook his head.  “No, I’m prepared for you.  Anywhere is a bad spot if I’m surprised, but I should be okay.  I’ll let you know if that changes.”  He shifted for a moment, like he was trying to get comfortable.  “What do I do with my arms?”

“Have you never had a massage before?” Matt asked.

“No?  I never really locked up like this.  Except maybe times I can’t remember.”

Matt snorted.  “And I don’t think there’s a booming Galra massage trade.  Hey, maybe we’ll start one and make a killing.  Anyway, arms by your side and attempt to relax.”

Moving his arms into place, Shiro hummed.  “This feels weird.”

“It can for a second.  This is the part where I distract you.”

Moment of truth.

Squeezing a dollop into his hand, Matt rubbed his palms together to warm it.  Then he placed his hands on Shiro’s shoulders.

They were firm and warm, and the tension on Shiro’s face increased for just a moment, then released, even before he’d started to move.

Professional.  Matt could totally keep this friendly.  People did stuff like this all the time as their job, even on people who were hot.  He could manage this one time without embarrassing himself.

With that in mind, the started to rub. At first he traced the muscles, digging his thumb in to find the knots and start to work them, just getting a feel for what he was working with.

“So, I can tell you’ve never done this before,” Matt muttered, brow furrowing as he started to concentrate properly.  “How do you move?”

Shiro snorted.  “Today? Not well,” he replied flatly.  “That’s how you knew.”

Point.

Muscle by muscle, Matt started to concentrate on the actions rather than that it was Shiro under him.  The knots started to give, first some of the smaller ones, and then the larger, until Matt had crawled fully onto the bed to really work at it.

Then Shiro moaned.

Matt paused, weight resting on his palms, and nearly fell when they slipped out from under him from all the oil.

That had to be a moan of relief, right?  Matt was getting out all those painful spots, it had to feel good in a purely platonic, physical muscles kind of way.  Totally.  When he glanced down at Shiro, his mouth was slack in pleasure and his eyes were closed.  He looked...

Totally innocent.  No need to project, dammit.

Getting his hands back onto Shiro’s back, Matt started back up again, working out from his spine and moving down to the lowest dip of the curve, where-

Shiro moaned again.  This time it was a throaty noise, and he let out a breathy sigh after, shifting under Matt’s hands.

That wasn’t innocent.

Holy shit.  Shiro was  _ enjoying _ the massage.  In the way Matt had been afraid he would.

Well, being turned on from hands rubbing hot oil into his back wasn’t exactly a ten on the kink scale, here.  That didn’t mean Shiro was into Matt, and it definitely didn’t mean there were feelings there.

Though, Matt would take just the first one if it came down to it.

Alright, no.  No, he wouldn’t.  That would suck, to be considered a friend with benefits by Shiro.  Matt had done that.  It had been his favorite kind of relationship, once upon a time, even if he’d only had one or two.

He couldn’t do that with Shiro.  He couldn’t pretend not to have feelings for him if they were beyond platonic friends.

So Matt took a deep breath and ignored the noises and his reaction to those noises.  Instead, he continued work, moving his way back up along Shiro’s sides.  He hesitated for a moment, then started to dig his fingers into the part of Shiro’s arm left above the prosthetic.

Under him, Shiro froze.  “Matt?”

“You said there weren’t bad places,” Matt murmured in reply.  “Your skin is cold here.  Circulation is partially done by muscle use, and not all of your muscles work the same way now.  I’ll stop if you want, but it’ll make your arm feel better.”

There was a long moment of silence, then Shiro hummed.  “Okay.”

The trust of that took Matt’s breath away, and he closed his eyes against the sudden swell of emotions.  “Thank you.”

“You’re massaging me, I should thank you,” Shiro replied softly.

The effort of rubbing Shiro’s back and arms was so small compared to being allowed this kind of vulnerability.  They didn’t match in the least.

And it made Matt feel guilty for how much he was hiding from Shiro in return.

Well, it was for Shiro’s own good.  Matt could live with this.  He had been, from the moment the cute but infuriatingly reserved pilot had been introduced to him.  At the time, the source of his annoyance had been that someone so professional and by the book could also be so pretty.  And it had only grown from there.

Matt didn’t want to ruin one of the few relationships that Shiro had without some kind of outside power dynamic.

And he was just a coward, but whatever.

By the time Matt finished with that arm, Shiro’s lips and eyes were pressed tight like he was trying not to cry.  But he wasn’t flinching and he hadn’t tried to get Matt to stop.  “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Shiro managed, and there was a hint of tears to his eyes.  “I didn’t know it hurt that much.”

Oh.

“We’ll keep that up, then.  Maybe not the rest of it so often, but your arm for sure.  Doctor’s orders.”

Shiro gave a tiny nod.  “Okay.”  He paused, then cracked open his eyes.  “Neck next?  I think it’s the worst tension left.  The left arm isn’t so bad.”

“Sure.”  Scooting up, Matt used the tips of his fingers to knead where the shoulders became the neck, and then moved up in tiny circles.

There were a few moments of calm silence as Shiro relaxed back down again.

Then he moaned, soft and breathy.

“Keep going,” Shiro murmured, tone almost syrupy.  “Just like that.”

At first, Matt started to listen, but then what Shiro was saying caught up to him.  Since when did Shiro drop lines that sounded like a cheap porno?

This time when he glanced down, he caught Shiro grinning.

“Seriously?”  Matt pulled his hands back.  “Happy endings don’t come standard, Shirogane.  You have to pay for that shit.”

“How much?”

Matt froze.  “Pardon?”

Shirting, Shiro turned over so he was on his back.  His gaze was steady as he met Matt’s.  “I wanted to know how much.  No matter what, it’ll be worth it.”

Matt leaned back on his legs, still staring.  “What are you saying?”

That made Shiro pause.  “I... I’m saying I like you.  A lot.  And I think you might like me, too.  Otherwise I’m really misreading some signals, here.  If I am, I’m so sorry for making this weird, but I don’t think I am.  You’ve kinda been blushing around me a lot.  And staring.  And the thing with the kissing.  We kinda kept going there for a bit.”  He went quiet for a moment.  “Um.  Please say something?”

Something clicked.

“You were moaning on purpose!” Matt cried.  “You little shit!”

Shiro didn’t blush, but his expression went distinctly shady.  “I thought it would help.”

Smacking him on the side, Matt huffed.  “You absolute jackass.  I should make you suffer and wait for that.  What a tease.  And this time it was on purpose!”  But he paused, eyeing Shiro.  “You’re lucky you’re cute, Starshine.”

Then Matt leaned down and kissed him.

Shiro’s hand came up to cup the back of Matt’s head as he leaned up eagerly into the touch.

When they finally broke apart, Shiro was slightly mused and definitely flushed, and his smile was absolutely stunning.  “You didn’t answer. What’s the happy ending cost?”

“Kisses,” Matt replied, beaming right back.  “Lots of them.  Tons.”

Shiro laughed.  “Well then, I’d better get started on my first payment.”

“I’m a real penny pincher when it comes to debts, you know,” Matt warned.  His cheeks hurt from smiling.  “I’m gunna expect regular payments.”

“I can do that.”

The kiss swallowed Matt’s snorting laughter.

The ones after that muffled Shiro’s groans.

***

A couple of hours later, Shiro stumbled out of Matt’s room.  His hair was rumpled and his shirt and vest were in a hasty clump in his arms.

Right outside Matt’s door, pointed down the hall to her own room and already in her pajamas, Pidge froze.  Slowly, she glanced from Shiro to the door.

“Um,” Shiro started, his eyes going wide.

Snorting, Pidge waved him off.  “Don’t bother.  About time.  I’d rather watch whatever gross boyfriend shit you get up than all the obnoxious pining.”  Without another word, she made her way down the hall.

“We weren’t that bad!” Shiro called after her, unable to hide the sulk in his tone.

Pidge barked out a sarcastic laugh and turned down the hall.

No way.  They were adults, thank you very much.  Totally capable of being subtle.  No way anyone else could tell.

Shiro had a funny feeling he was in for the teasing of his life tomorrow.

Eh, worth it.


End file.
